BEN LAKE MP visited postal workers at the Llandysul Delivery Office last Friday (Dec 13) to show his support and gain insight into their operations during the festive season—the busiest time of the year for Royal Mail.

The holiday period sees Royal Mail handle around double its usual volume of letters and parcels, as people send Christmas cards and shop for gifts online. To meet this seasonal surge, the Llandysul Delivery Office has hired four extra vehicles, while Royal Mail nationally has recruited 16,000 temporary workers and introduced nearly 4,000 additional vans, trucks, and trailers.

During the visit, Ben Lake spoke with Ryan Goellnitz, Customer Operations Manager, about Royal Mail’s efforts to enhance convenience for customers. These include services like Parcel Collect—where posties collect parcels directly from customers’ doorsteps—and the introduction of over 5,000 new parcel drop-off points this year, including at Collect+ stores and parcel lockers.

Ryan Goellnitz said:
“It was great to have Ben visit our Delivery Office and show him how we are gearing up for our peak period. We are pulling out all the stops to deliver Christmas for our customers.”

Ben Lake, MP for Ceredigion Preseli, praised the dedication of the postal workers:
“It was a pleasure to visit the Llandysul Delivery Office and witness the incredible volume of post managed by Royal Mail, not only here but across the country. This is an essential service year-round, but the effort and planning to ensure smooth operations during Christmas are extraordinary.

“I am immensely grateful for their tireless efforts and dedication, which deserve to be fully recognised. The visit gave me real appreciation for the hard work and commitment of everyone involved.”

Royal Mail’s preparations for Christmas are a year-long effort, ensuring the postal service continues to meet the festive demand.

SPAN ARTS is delighted to announce the return of the Narberth A Cappella Festival for March 2025. This spectacular and unique festival returns to the town of Narberth for 2025, bringing wonderful A Cappella offerings to Pembrokeshire. Not only this but new for 2025 a tantalising Earlybird offer has just been launched, with discounted festival tickets, priority workshop booking and more!

The Narberth A Cappella Festival, organized by SPAN Arts, is Wales’s premier a cappella voice celebration, attracting participants from across the UK. With over 25 years of history, Narberth A Cappella Festival 2025 will focus on community voices, featuring the much-loved Singing Feast and vocal workshops led by world-renowned practitioners.

The festival will commence with our welcoming Singing Feast, an evening where you can enjoy delicious food, excellent company and joyful singing on the Friday night. On the Saturday you can join our singing workshops which bring talented vocalists to teach vocal sessions in both the morning and afternoon. In the evening, we close our festival with a concert that showcases community a cappella choirs, with a line-up of UK wide and local choirs for you to enjoy. 

You will be able to book individual events when SPAN Arts launches their event tickets in the new year or book your “Festival Tickets” that will cover entry to every event across the festival.

But why wait till then? Book Earlybird Festival Ticket offer and secure your place now. Already available to purchase via their website this makes the perfect Christmas gift to give that unique experience to any music enthusiast.

With the Earlybird ticket offer, you can grab yourself a discounted festival ticket that covers all the events of the weekend. It also gets you priority booking for the limited places available at the singing workshops ahead of the general sales release in the new year.

All Earlybirds will also get a free tote bag on their arrival at the start of the festival! But hurry, this offer is only available through the Christmas period and finishes on the twelfth day of Christmas (6 January).

Keep an eye on their website and social media for more announcements about artists, performers and more over the next few weeks.

For more information contact [email protected] or call 01843 869323

The event will take place 7 – 8 March 2025 at the following locations:

• Singing Feast: The Scout Hut, Town Moor, Narberth. SA67 7AG
• Singing Workshops: Bethesda Baptist Church, High St, Narberth SA67 7AP
• Final Concert: St Andrews Church, 17 Church St, Narberth SA67 7BH

Earlybird festival ticket £58. More tickets to be released in the New Year. Advanced booking required. Visit the SPAN Arts website to book.  

Please contact [email protected] to discuss your accessibility needs. For ticket holders who need access support to attend, they offer a free ticket for their companion, carer or personal assistant. Contact 01834 869323 to book your carers ticket.

A  CALL for a north Pembrokeshire beach-side car park to be given to the local town council to use as a source of funding to keep its closure-threatened public toilet open has been backed by the national park.

Members of the December meeting of Pembrokeshire Coast National Park were recommended to approve the surrender of the existing National Park Authority lease of the 40-vehicle Newport Parrog car park and listed lime kiln to Newport Town Council.

A report for members said the Park acquired an 80-year lease at a “nominal rent” of £268 a year on the site back in 1996.

The report says the continued existence of the lease prevents the Park or anyone else from introducing parking charges, with a special covenant in its conditions.

Adjoining the car park is a public toilet which the county council intends to close in early 2025, unless another party is willing to step forward and assume responsibility for its continuing management and operation, members heard.

“Newport Town Council has stated their willingness to assume that responsibility conditional upon them being able to generate a long-term revenue stream to cover its operating costs. They have identified the introduction of parking charges for the car park as a means of raising that revenue stream.

“It is an unusual step for a local community to advocate for the imposition of car park charges upon itself, although their reasons for doing so in this instance are quite clear, and has already received a mandate of support from within the local community.

“To give effect to that mandate, Newport Town Council need to secure two principal objectives: Long-term control of the subject land: they have already agreed terms with our landlord (The Baroney of Cemmas, Alex Hawksworthy) to acquire his freehold of the subject land and the public toilets.  Secure full vacant possession of the subject land by taking a surrender of the Authority’s remaining unexpired lease term thereby allowing them to introduce parking charges in their capacity as the owner-operator of the subject land.”

The report, recommending delegated approval be given to its chief executive to complete the surrender, concluded: “The continuation of the National Park lease represents an unfunded long-term liability for the Authority and also frustrates Newport Town Councils ability to protect and secure the at-risk public toilet facilities.

“The proposal put forward by Newport Town Council is considered to be a creative and practical long-term solution which would see both the freehold of the car park, lime kiln and public toilet facility pass from private control into local public ownership and remain available for public use under the direct control of Newport Town Council.”

Speaking at the meeting, local member Cllr Mike James, who moved approval, said a recent meeting in Newport’s town hall unanimously passed support for the proposal being brought before the national park.

The proposal for a delegated decision was passed by Park members.