Consultation On Wrexham Development Plan – Including Locations Of 10,000+ New Houses

The public are to be consulted on a ‘controversial’ document which outlines plans to develop over 10,000 new homes across Wrexham County Borough in the next 12 years.

Members of Wrexham Council’s Executive Board voted in favour of launching a public consultation on the Local Development Plan (2013 – 2028) – a document which lays out the preferred development strategy for the county borough over the next 12 years.

The LDP debated by councillors is the second to be created, with Wrexham Council’s initial report being withdrawn in 2012.

The 12 week consultation period, which will run between February 12th to April 1st will give members of the public the chance to have their say on the proposed development of the future of Wrexham and the preferred locations for large scale housing developments.

Lead Member for Place, Planning and Public Protection, Cllr David Kelly said: “The report outlines the preferred strategy and seeks approval of the board to undertake the public consultation stage of the LDP process.

“The strategy as laid out in Appendix One identifies the LDP vision and objectives are also laid out to the Council’s preferred strategic level of growth for the county borough along with the outline of locations where new development will be directed over the lifecycle of the plan between 2013-2028.”

Cllr Kelly added: “It is important to note a certain amount of new growth has already taken place in the first two years of the planned period. 450 homes have already been built, and approximately 2800 units are in pipeline for development, that have planning permission or are in development.”

It is estimated that an additional 6700 homes will need to be built between now and 2028, with 1200 of those set to be on brownfield sites and the remainder on greenfield sites.

The report itself, which was described as ‘bound to be controversial’, concentrates on development in the following sustainable locations up until 2028 – with many villages and estates likely to see large scale developments on both greenfield and brownfield sites in their local areas.

– The Primary Key Settlement of Wrexham Town and Wrexham Industrial Estate including Key Strategic Site release for housing and employment
– The Key Settlements of Acrefair / Cefn Mawr, Chirk, Coedopeth, Gresford / Marford, Gwersyllt and Rhosllanerchrugog
– The Local Service Centres of Bangor, Broughton, Brymbo, Glyn Ceiriog, Holt, Llay, Overton, Penley, Penycae, Rhostyllen, Rossett and Ruabon
– Some Minor Villages namely Rhosrobin, Marchwiel, Bronnington, Southsea and Bradley

Details within the LDP also suggest how improvements could be made to the town centre, the creation of new employment, infrastructure and community facilities.

Speaking about the document, Cllr Bob Dutton said: “This is one of these documents which is bound to be controversial there is no question about that. It is an important document from the publics perspective and I hope there will be formal response quickly and as positively as possible. We have now have a basis to get out to the general public for Wrexham County Borough’s general future.”

Council Leader Mark Pritchard added: “I would like to thank Officers who have been involved with this, the Lead Member now and the previous Lead Member and the planning policy panel who have had a lot of debate and discussions on this.

“There is a seven week opportunity for the people of Wrexham to make their points known through the consultation. It is important and I would make a plea today for all residents of Wrexham to participate. LDP One was controversial and sure LDP Two will be the same. Homes and houses are always difficult to move forward with and as the lead member has said we have to deliver thousands of new homes in Wrexham going forward with LDP Two.”

However in a rare ‘vote against the recommendation’ for the Executive Board, Cllr Ronnie Prince announced he could not support going to public consultation due to the ‘additional pressures’ the thousands of homes would have on Wrexham.

Cllr Prince said: “I would like to recognise the work my fellow councillors have put into this document. I cannot support this going to public consultation. I believe the Welsh Government is forcing Wrexham Council to accept housing projects that will do nothing but place additional pressures on local services, at a time where services are being severely cut by central government cutbacks.

“I would like to urge the Welsh Government to rethink its policy, which I feel is forcing Wrexham Council to endorse the building of over 10,000 houses which does harmonise with the local needs.

“I recognise we have a housing shortage, but not on the scale being proposed here today. We will have short term gains and long term pain if we approve this.”

Despite Cllr Prince voting against the proposal, the recommendation was passed by the Executive Board.

The public consultation is set to go live on February 12th 2016, and as usual Wrexham.com will provide links and coverage when it does…