Glyndwr and Dean Road
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Posts
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Matt. Thank you for your kind words. I follow this forum regularly, and occasionally post on various subjects. I am aware that it isn’t very often that a local Councillor gets a good rep on social media, so I am pleased that you took the time to comment.
The issue is a lot more complicated than many people believe.
Yes, Glyndwr own the land. However the land was transferred to them [NEWI then) by the then Clwyd County Council in 1998, under the Education Reform Act. No doubt the land was intended for educational purposes. I am certain that no Council would dispose of valuable land Carte Blanche, to another body without some sort of clause regarding future use of the land. To do so would be a gross dereliction of their duty. I am trying to get information about any such clauses, but the information is not exactly freely available.
Meanwhile, I do not believe that Glyndwr should be in a position to try to sell the land to a developer for a profit. They have stated that they have never used the land for educational purposes, maybe they should consider returning the land to the Council for public use.
There is a lot going on behind the scenes, and many people are determined to fight to protect this open green space. If anybody wants to follow what is going on, they can check out my Facebook page: Rhosnesni Community News, or the Save Dean Road Field Facebook page.
Regards
MikeSome research needs completing, but I recall that when the original planning permission was granted for Colliers Park, it was purely as a training ground that explicitly stated that it was not for any competitive games. If my memory is correct, and as much of the activity at Colliers park is competitive games between different football clubs, it would constitute a breach of the original planning permission.
If it is a breach of the planning permission, it would be embarrassing for all concerned in the recent developments at Colliers Park and need addressing. It is an angle worth pursuing as the University might then need to keep the Dean Road site as compensation to allow local football clubs to use it for competitive games if they were to be subsequently barred from playing at collier Park.
The approach is somewhat distasteful, but as the University is being unreasonable, it might be more palatable than in most usual cases.
No problem Mike, I shall be sure to check out the Facebook campaign group page.
I have such fond memories of the Dean Road field growing up – going back 20 years now, regularly spent lunch time playing football there when I was in St David’s.
Then after school and weekends it would regularly be used by local kids as a sort of central meeting point (probably because it was so close to the school) – there’d be friends coming from all areas to play football or hang out – Little Acton, Smithy Area, Borras, Acton and Queen’s Park – back when people didn’t completely freak out about large groups of youths hanging out and not attempting dispersal orders on them. There were plenty of younger kids and their parents also there not bothered by people kicking a ball about or going round on bikes.
I’d never have thought back then, not in a million years, that a decent recreational green space in a built up area would be considered to have housing built on it. The concept was laughable, any talk about building on green spaces and taking away playing areas would have been considered stone age. Especially after we’d already failed to create sufficient amenity spaces and overcrowded people twice in UK history – first with terraced houses and then with high rise flats. Apparently town planners had finally got it right.
It’s like we almost took it for granted that these spaces would always be available for people to use and that they wouldn’t attempt to overcrowd already built up areas in our town – that was more of a city thing. I understand the need for new housing, but that’s why there’s a planning committee to halt potentially harmful developments and to rubber stamp and support sensible and sustainable developments. However, that planning process is fundamentally broken with those who have a lot of financial backing throwing tantrums when their plans are shot down and essentially forcing buildings on people by going to the Welsh Government on appeal. It’s completely unacceptable.
Nowadays it’s nearly impossible to get kids to go out and play and concerns over childhood obesity and their mental health because of their reliance on smartphones, social media, tablets and games consoles etc. Plus the ridiculous media fuelled fear that they can no longer go out because of the constant threat of a paedophile lurking on every street corner. Ironically children are far more likely to get groomed online than they ever would on a playing field or a park these days.
So recreational spaces like Dean Road are vital for the healthy development of children today and I’m more than certain that the land was transferred with the understanding and trust that it would forever be retained for the use of locals and not for the building of more houses to make a profit.
If Glyndwr wants to expand as a university it should do so within its own means and not in a way that negatively impact on the town it is supposed to serve. Even the supermarkets, like Tesco – solely aimed at making profit – take on corporate responsibility seriously, where if they dispose of land surplus to requirements, if they were previously planning to build a supermarket – they don’t dump on the local community by selling it to create a new abbatoir or to developers to overpopulate a particular area. They know that alienating communities will cause their customers to stop shopping there and go elsewhere.
Glyndwr seems to lack that basic level of foresight – if you decide to fence off and lock off Timmy’s field and stop him from playing and having fun with his friends he’s hardly going to apply for the university when he is finished with college. He’s going to want to leave town and go somewhere with less oppressive values and more focused on actual education rather than somewhere like Glyndwr that wants to play Billy Big Balls – messing about with the town left, right and centre.
It firmly looks like we are squaring up for another round in Wrexham of The People vs the Profiteers (see the agenda behind the planned closure of Plas Madoc, Demolition of the Groves, Kingdom, Island Green Car Park). There seems to be a track record of stopping these people right in their tracks.
You can already see the thinking and machinations in place to thwart Glyndwr’s plans firmly in their tracks – the digging people have done behind this field, Colliers Park and no doubt other developments they are planning. It’s like starting some kind of guerrilla warfare – you f*ck with Wrexham and we’ll come down on you like a tonne of bricks. The question is just how badly does the university want its name dragged through the mud locally and nationally – look how easily negative stories about them ends up on the BBC and through the local press and syndicating through to more national press.
The Dean Road site is under threat as is another open space , The Nine Acre field. This field came into,the ownership of the Council by default being part of the settlement when Clwyd County Council was disbanded. The Council should be protecting our green open spaces , adding to them rather than developing them, especially as they are determined to add thousand of extra houses to the County. Green space is good for the environment and people’s well being. Develop brown field spaces first before destroying any more green spaces. The Groves site and Cambrian Yard to name two in the town centre both owned by the Council.
I think their focus should be on the quality of their course content and the quality of their lecturers, they are obviously not favoured by the students that attend this University. They seem insistent on hurting their reputation and our town. We need to encourage use of green spaces for a happy and healthy community, about time they become a respected member of the community.
A number of concerned local residents are having a protest meeting on the Dean Road field on Sunday afternoon. One resident has placed signs around the field to advertise this. This morning Glyndwr reps were seen ripping down these signs. Some of these signs were on private property or areas not owned by Glyndwr. This seems very hypocritical bearing in mind their stated reason for building the fence was due to vandalism of their property.
[quote quote=174367]A number of concerned local residents are having a protest meeting on the Dean Road field on Sunday afternoon. One resident has placed signs around the field to advertise this. This morning Glyndwr reps were seen ripping down these signs. Some of these signs were on private property or areas not owned by Glyndwr. This seems very hypocritical bearing in mind their stated reason for building the fence was due to vandalism of their property.[/quote]
Reminds me of when the council cut all the ribbons off near the Groves site. Shows how scared they are – get those signs back up!
Good Morning fellow commentors I am a member of one of the groups associated with Dean Road Playing Field…as you are aware of the growing support could I ask your permission to copy the comments posted on this forum and post them on our Facebook pages.
I would be grateful for any support you can offer..
Please support us on FB at:
Dean Road Playing Field against Glyndwr University or Save Dean Road Playing Field.We are also holding a protest at the field this Sunday at 2:30pm please come along and show your support.
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