Llyr Gruffydd MS Member of the Senedd for North Wales

  A recent site visit left Llyr Gruffydd astounded by the progress at the ‘jewel in the crown’ of arts centre. On a site visit to Theatr Clwyd this week Llyr Gruffydd discovered the extent of the £50M investment in the arts venue in Mold. Llyr Gruffydd said- “The scale of the development is huge. It is almost a complete re-build of the venue, completely re-modelled with a 21st century audience in mind“Although the existing building was opened in 1976 it in dire need for a substantial investment in order to save its future. Plaid Cymru and I have fought hard over many years to secure this investment, and coming here to experience the hive of building activity that is going on is quite exciting.” Although parts of the venue have been closed for quite some time to accommodate the upgrade, the theatre company have managed to keep the performances going through it all. The main auditorium will re-open in November, in time for the seasonal Panto – this year’s offering being ‘Mother Goose’. The production is expected to attract around 40,000 attendees. Llyr Gruffydd went on to add- “Venues like this are being lost all over the country due to a lack of funding. The only way we could secure this resource’s future was to fight for the capital investment it deserves, and to further enhance the status of the theatre as the jewel in the crown of North-East Wales.” The overhaul includes a culinary upgrade with Denbigh-born television chef Bryn Williams opening a new restaurant on site after taking over the catering franchise. The arts complex will be able to attract the best acts and plays touring the UK, but more importantly it will have all the facilities needed to support the production of original productions by the company. This includes set-building and painting workshops, and costume-making spaces with state-of-the-art technologies and much more.In 2016 Theatr Clwyd employed 63 people – with the new investment from the public and private sectors they hope to employ 250 staff by summer 2025.  

The summer has been an important opportunity to engage with organisations and individuals. From the Royal Welsh to the Eisteddfod and more local shows such as in Denbigh & Flint, Anglesey and Llanrwst, I had the opportunity to hear about the hopes and concerns of constituents from all across north Wales and beyond. Thanks to everyone for sharing their views!  

Llyr Gruffydd MS backs the Save our Surgeries campaign   Recently Llyr Gruffydd committed to support doctors campaigning to save and better fund GP surgeries, saying primary care is viewed as a Cinderella service with the NHS.  Mr Gruffydd said that maintaining GP surgeries in all parts of the region was essential to ensure access for all patients.   He added: "Doctors in Wales, through the British Medical Association, are highlighting the pressures GPs face and I know that many surgeries in the north Wales region are facing huge challenges in terms of recruiting GPs and maintaining services, especially in some rural areas. I'm pleased to say that a recent recruitment campaign in Betws y Coed, where a GP practice was in danger of closing, was a success but there are ongoing challenges in many areas.   "It was a pleasure to speak to BMA Wales members Dr Phil White, Dr Sara Bodey and Dr Paul Emmett to learn more about the workload issues and problematic buildings. I know from my campaigning for a new GP surgery building in Hanmer, for example, how important that is for improved patient care.   "We have a growing elderly and less healthy population and this is placing enormous pressure on our health service. As GPs are the first port of call for patients it's important that they are adequately resourced.   "Plaid Cymru has a long-standing policy to increase the numbers of doctors in Wales and that also means more GPs - in 2012 a GP had an average of 1719 patients, today they have an average of 2318. We also have 25% fewer full-time equivalent GPs compared with a decade ago and the proportion of NHS Wales funded provided to GPs has reduced from 8.7% in 2005/6 to 6.1% in 2022-3. That's a significant reduction and helps explain while primary care is often seen as the Cinderella service within our NHS.    "Having a medical school here in the North will provide a solution over time and that was a hard-fought campaign by Plaid Cymru. We've been committed to improving our NHS and in particular primary care for all my time as an MS but the Labour Welsh Government has not prioritised that need. We need the political will to make the changes needed to improve our NHS, otherwise we will continue to see GPs prematurely leave the health service because of workload pressures."