Residents are being reminded that there are changes to bin collections over the May bank holidays.

From Monday, May 28, until Friday, June 1, collections will take place one day later than usual. So for example, if your collection is due on Monday it won’t be picked up until Tuesday and so on.

These changes also affect garden waste and trade waste customers.

The recycling centres in Trostre (Llanelli), Wernddu (Ammanford), Nantycaws (Carmarthen) and Whitland are all open as usual over the bank holidays.

All recycling centres are now operating summer opening hours, 8.30am-7pm.

To find out when your bins are being collected or for more information on recycling visit Carmarthenshire County Council’s website www.carmarthenshire.gov.wales

Cllr Hazel Evans, executive board member for environment, said: “Please remember to recycle using your blue bags. Items such as plastic bottles, food tins, aerosol cans, magazines and catalogues, plastic coat hangers and cardboard can all be recycled in the blue bag. Information and advice is available on the council’s website.

“In Carmarthenshire about a quarter of a typical black bag still contains food waste, and half of that is still in its packaging.

“Reduce your food waste and save money, visit the Love Food Hate Waste website for advice on avoiding food waste and using up leftovers.

“If you do have waste food such as teabags, bones, vegetable and fruit peelings or egg shells please put these in your food waste bin for a weekly collection where it will be treated and turned into soil conditioner.”

Links –

https://www.carmarthenshire.gov.wales/home/council-services/recycling-bins-and-litter/recycling-bin-collections/blue-bags-recycling/#.WwcFhi-ZPOR

https://www.carmarthenshire.gov.wales/home/council-services/recycling-bins-and-litter/recycling-bin-collections/green-bin-food-waste/#.WwcFhi-ZPOQ

https://www.carmarthenshire.gov.wales/home/council-services/recycling-bins-and-litter/recycling-centres/#.WwcFiS-ZPOR

An award-winning short film by an Aberystwyth University graduate is to be broadcast on S4C.

‘Dwy Chwaer a Brawd’ (Two Sisters and a Brother) was produced by Meleri Morgan in 2017 as part of her final-year project in the Department of Theatre, Film & Television Studies.

Featuring the lives in rural Ceredigion of two sisters and a brother in their 80s and 90s, the observational documentary won the Factual category in the 2018 Royal Television Society Wales Student Awards as well as the ‘Best International Student Award’ at the 2017 Wexford Documentary Film Festival.

It will now be shown for the first time on television when it airs on S4C’s Heno programme at 19:00 on Friday 25 May 2018.

One of the Heno presenters will be in the Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies on Friday evening to speak to students and staff before the documentary is shown.

Meleri, who graduated with a BA in Theatre, Film and Television Studies in July 2017, said: “The film is very close to my heart and reflects a period in my life when my creativity developed greatly. I am hugely indebted to my lecturers Elin Morse, Kate Woodward and Gareth Llŷr Evans for opening my eyes to the wide world of the arts and the importance of searching for the perfect story before starting to film.

“The department at Aberystwyth is exceptional and offers a broad spectrum of experiences from the academic to the creative which in my opinion need to run in parallel so as to create a more complete student who is able to make the most of the experts in all areas of the department. Being able to study through the medium of Welsh has also enriched my experience here in Aberystwyth and I would recommend that anyone who is interested in a degree that is full of artistic variety and experience considers studying here.”

Elin Morse, Lecturer in Media Productions at the Department of Theatre, Film & Television at Aberystwyth University, said: “Dwy Chwaer a Brawdis a wonderfully crafted film which provides an incredibly valuable record of a world that is rapidly disappearing. As a Department, we are extremely proud of Meleri’s success and her talent as a film-maker.”

As well as being shown on S4C, Meleri’s film will also be screened in the Department’s R Gerallt Jones studio on Friday evening to an audience of staff, students and representatives from the local community.

Dr Anwen Jones, Head of the Department of Theatre, Film & Television studies at Aberystwyth University, said: “Our aim as a Department is to equip our students with the technical skills and high production values they need to develop. Meleri has found a unique voice as a filmmaker and we would like to extend our warmest congratulations to her on the standard and success of ‘Dwy Chwaer a Brawd’.

The screening on Friday also coincides with the Department’s annual awards ceremony for final year Film and Television students.

For more information about Aberystwyth’s Theatre, Film and Television courses, please see the Department’s website

Photo: Meleri Morgan, whose documentary film Dwy Chwaer a Brawd(Two Sisters and a Brother) will be shown on S4C’s Heno programme at 19:00 on Friday 25 May 2018.

Links:
Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies
www.aber.ac.uk/en/tfts

Study at the Department of Film and Television Studies at Aberystwyth University
www.aber.ac.uk/en/tfts/study-with-us/prosp-ug/courses

A child’s play area, a high end spin and cycle studio and a 3G pitch are some of the planned investments for leisure centres in Carmarthen and Ammanford.

Over £2 million is being ploughed into the centres to ensure sport facilities are fit for the future.

The money, earmarked for Carmarthen and Ammanford leisure centres out of the council’s capital programme, will enhance current facilities, community provision and offer customers a better experience.

Works at the centre in Carmarthen will include a new child’s play area with a bashbag, tri deck climber, spinning door, dangly snake cluster, a ride on playshape, log ramp, racing slide, wobbly mirror, pyramid puzzle and much more. There will be a junior and toddler area, seating section and a café point. Outdoor facilities will be updated including resurfacing the athletics track and astro turf facilities and a previously unused area will also house sports courts. These new works will complement the recently refurbished state of the art gyms and Synergy.

A new 3G pitch and outdoor sports court facility – both floodlit – will be installed at Ammanford Leisure Centre.

Additional parking will also be created at both sites to meet current demand and improvements will be made to ease traffic flow.

The council’s executive board member for leisure, Cllr Peter Hughes-Griffiths said: “More people than ever are using the centres to get more active and healthy, so it is critical that we are able to provide them with modern facilities that compete with a busy private sector market. If we don’t invest we face the possibility of losing our customers which would have a long term effect on the viability of our leisure centres. We are pleased we are making this significant investment which will benefit our members and the local community and schools.”

Works will be phased in over the next two years.

Height restriction barriers are being re-introduced at Trostre Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC) in an attempt to stop the facility being abused by trade vehicles.

During April, 26,000 vehicles visited the site, but it is thought that around a third were businesses who are not permitted to use the facilities.

Growing misuse of the site is causing congestion and safety issues at the site, prompting complaints from members of the public.

As a result, from Tuesday, May 29, vehicles over two metres in height will not be allowed to enter the centre.

The decision has been made by Carmarthenshire County Council and Cwm Environmental Ltd, which operates the HWRC on the council’s behalf.

Cllr Hazel Evans, executive board member for environment, said: “Household Waste Recycling Centres are funded by households through council tax contributions and it is not fair for them to be affected by unnecessary congestion and safety issues at our sites because businesses are abusing them.

“We are acting on complaints and feedback in re-introducing height restrictions at the site.

“We acknowledge these changes may affect a small number of users who are genuinely disposing of household waste but have a high-sided vehicle and apologise for this temporary inconvenience whilst longer-term solutions can be found.”

The Environmental Protection Act 1990 requires all vehicles carrying commercial waste to be registered as a waste carrier and provide a valid waste transfer note which stipulates conditions for proper disposal of waste.

Commercial waste disposal facilities are available at Nantycaws, Carmarthen, or businesses can organise trade waste collections.

The council said it will increase patrols and enforcement of fly-tipping as a result of the re-introduction of height restrictions at the HWRC.

Anyone caught fly-tipping could be fined up to £50,000 or face imprisonment, as well as new on-the-spot fixed penalty notices of up to £350.

Information about the changes at Trostre HWRC, commercial waste facilities, bulky waste collections, and recycling, can be found on the council’s website www.carmarthenshire.gov.wales.

Carmarthenshire Council press release:

More charging points have been installed in Carmarthenshire for electric cars.

Mart Car Park in Newcastle Emlyn and St Peter’s Car park Carmarthen are two of the latest locations to benefit from electric vehicle charging points. The 7kW chargers will charge a compatible electric vehicle in 3-5 hours.

The unit at Nant y Ci Park & Ride site has also been replaced with a new rapid charge facility which will charge an electric vehicle to 80% in 30 minutes.

Carmarthenshire County Council secured funding for the plug-in chargers through the Welsh Government’s LEADER programme following an increase in electric vehicle sales

By the end of the year it is estimated that around 200,000 vehicles on UK roads will be electric.

The council’s executive board member for communities, Cllr Hazel Evans said: “These fast chargers will enhance our current provision in Carmarthenshire and offer motorists a more accessible service. We will be looking at installing more of these points across the county to meet the growing demand for electric and plug-in hybrid cars.”

The top three selling electric and plug-in hybrid cars in 2017 were the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, BMW 3 Series 330e and the Nissan Leaf, according to electric-vehicle information provider Go Ultra Low.

Other charging points in Carmarthenshire:

One rapid charger

• Pont Abraham services.

Fast chargers (7kW)

• Murray Street car park, Llanelli.
• Salem Memorial Hall
• Dinefwr Castle (National Trust)
• Roadhouse (Whitland) – customers only
• The Plash Inn (Llanfallteg) – customers only
• The Castle (Llandovery) – customers only
• Nant yr Onnen Holiday Lets (Llandovery) – customers only
• Dealerships:
  • Gravells Dealership (Kidwelly)
  • J & J Motors (Cross Hands)

Tesla specific chargers

• Parc y Scarlets
• The Brown’s (Laugharne) – customers only
• Roadhouse (Whitland) – customers only