The Groves School – Structure and Condition
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[quote quote=106310]Too many people point the finger at us wasting money or complain about trivial matters such as priority parking for top Managers and Councillors (which we do need!) but wouldn’t it be far worse throwing bags of money into repairing an old school when we could save a fortune building a new school?
My suggestion to convert the building into a half way house for prisoners released into the community once HMP Wrexham opens or to house immigrants was thrown out because of the covenant and the cost involved in fixing the Groves but I am now of the opinion that Erlas House would be a cost ehttps://www.wrexham.com/forums/topic/the-groves-school-structure-and-condition#topic-replyffective option for the Council.
Its a shame that the Groves has to go but a new school will bring many construction jobs to Wrexham, just as the Prison has.
Counc. X[/quote]
If anyone was looking for clear evidence of why Wrexham is in an irreversible death spiral then note these comments above.
Let’s for a moment continue with the assumption that our covert councillor is indeed as he claims, to even contemplate bringing more social problems in to an area already being decimated by drug and alcohol issues is quite unfathomable.
As for the Groves building, our councillor is quite deliberately deflecting the point being made. Heritage is a key part of a towns identity and the protection of which may well appear to the financially illiterate to cost more in the short term however the long term economic benefits of sustaining a sense of place should be obvious to all. Many, if not most council tax payers expect this to be a fundamental keystone in the services the council provide.
What is perhaps provoking the backlash even further though is the insincere approach from lead council members. In the most recent public consultation for the master plan, the primary concern of those questioned was:
“supporting retention of character buildings”
Even more damning perhaps is the councils own mission statement for the local economy:
“conserve and regenerate key buildings to raise the overall quality and feel of the infrastructure and public realm within the County Borough.”
Link to council strategic plan
I have no delusions of convincing those councillors by means of debate – the council leader himself is as stubborn as an unflushable turd – however I am encouraged that there is such a large coherent voice against this decision that maybe on this occasion, ignorant nepotism may not win out…
Quite agree Adam
The golden rule for small towns like Wrexham is to eliminate those elements of the town offer that are bad…..and boy have we got some….whilst retaining those elements of the offer that have promise or better.
We have many horrible buildings but…equally….we have some fabulous ones. The Parish Church, the Baths and the Groves are all easy on the eye. Let’s do our best to preserve and improve.
We have a disjointed town with many signs of decay but…..equally…..we have an abundance of big names, 3 Markets, and lots of Indies. Let’s work on the coherence, save the Markets and encourage the Indies
The Council are very quick to condemn buildings which are then found not to have been as bad a s first thought.
2 years ago Plas Madoc Leisure Centre had to close as it needed to much spending on it — well that report was totally discredited with non existent leaks etc and the building now remaining open.
18 months ago Waterworld was supposedly needing £100k to be spent — what happens a Leisure Trust comes along and the next thing is that it is saved?
I am sure there would be others readers of the threads could highlight..The overall track record of Councillors and \Officers controlling large capital projects is not good — look at the massive over run of budget on the super schools for Clywedog and Rhosnessni.
The Groves is another example of using photos of selected parts of the building to condemn the structure– it is only a few months ago when Coleg Cambria spent a large amount on plans for the building that did not involve demolition — how can mass deterioration occur over three months?
The only difference is Coleg Cambria using a set of architects that were creative rather than some other outfit the Council have selected having given them a brief which is to conclude the building needs to come down.The architects for Coleg Cambria will have knowledge and maybe photographs of the interior of the building when they were preparing their plans for redevelopment. Has anything really changed in the state of the building in the last few months ?
The planning application to demolish has been made already: case no: P/2016/0042 Link
Thank you for the links N Jones.
However, the council apparently don’t need planning permission in order
to demolish the building. In 1995 legislation was brought in and adopted
giving the right to demolish simply because the building has been built.The application, which by the way is HEAVILY REDACTED, is a prior notice,
and the only thing in question is: what form the demolition will take and
in what way it will be carried out.There HAS to be a way of stopping this latest idiocy by the present incumbents.
Out with the old and in with the new, the building is coming down and nobody can stop that now so let’s embrace this and look at it as a chance to improve education in the area!
Personally I wanted to see the baths pulled down and a new centre built as its just an eyesore. I cannot wait to see the end of the police station either …. What were they thinking when they built them?
And why can’t we look after the down and outs, those who need second chances and those who need to flee persecution? There are some bigoted views coming out of this thread and people should be hanging their heads in shame.
If I can represent one I can represent all and will always listen to views, no matter how wrong they are!
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