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Is Seaside Town Terminally Rhyl?

It can be a worry when your MP seems to know more about you than you do about him. That was what I was faced with first thing on a Monday morning when I was greeted by Vale of Clwyd MP Chris Ruane in his office.
"Andrew, Grandson of Jack and great nephew of Ronnie and Eric." Mr.Ruane was referring to my Taid and his brothers who at different stages all served as Mayor of Rhyl and were very much Labour men. From the start I can tell that this endears me with my local MP.
Dr. Richard Landon's comments at a council meeting on Wednesday the 17th of January caused outrage' amongst fellow councilors and residents. In his comments he described Rhyl's West End residents as convicts' and mentally ill. Whilst Mr. Ruane agrees that Rhyl's West End has many problems, the doctor's diagnosis could have been put better.

"There's an element of truth in his comments. There is a concentration of poverty in this town. I don't think you should blame individuals for that, a main problem for the town is the system in that we have 900 HMO's (houses of multiple occupation) that used to be hotels and guest houses and over the last forty years have stopped being guest houses and hotels and been turned over to people outside the town who have no loyalty to the town, they don't care who they put in there, there's no proper management and their tenants take part in huge amounts of anti-social behaviour.
There are thirty two wards in Denbighshire, 50% of the shop theft and 56% of the drug crime is in that one ward. There are problems there but I don't feel pointing the finger at individuals will help."
Despite his comments, Mr. Ruane has a lot of respect for Dr. Landon and his contribution to Rhyl's West End community. Mr. Ruane describes Landon as a one man band' operating in that area dealing with the poorest people in the whole of Wales with massive health problems and also social problems.
On our journey around Rhyl's West ward, the first port of call is to Rhyl College which is currently undergoing development work to expand the site. "Poised for recovery" is Mr. Ruane's stance on Rhyl's current situation as we pull up next to the College one side and on the other side see a council infamous for it's rough' reputation though it is the same council estate where Mr. Ruane grew up, something he is clearly unashamed of. A former teacher himself, Mr. Ruane see's the College and it's 4.2 million extension as not only a key part of providing

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