May Town Centre Forum Round-Up Report

Coach parking, grass cutting and heritage trails were some of the topics covered this morning in this month’s Town Centre Forum Meeting.

This month’s meeting was relatively brief – lasting around 45 minutes. Underneath is a summary of some of the main points raised in the meeting.

An update on the ongoing discussion on town centre coach parking was provided, with the forum told plans are now ‘well in place’ for a drop off point in the High Street.

Head of ‘Destination Management’ for the Wrexham Area, Joe Bickerton, told the Forum he had been in touch with various coach companies to inform them of what is on offer. Signage for the drop off point is also expected to go up in the next two weeks.

It is hoped that that the coach parking will help attract visitors to the town centre for attractions and shopping.

The call for coach parking in the town centre was first made in the forum back in August 2012. During the meeting traders stated that the ‘town is currently being bypassed by coach operators carrying tourists due to insufficient parking facilities’.

Since the issue was first raised in 2012, the lack of coach parking in the town has been subject to an ongoing debate in Town Centre Forum Meetings. However speed on the subject has only picked up the pace in the past couple of months.

An update was also given on the Town Centre Heritage Trail, with Ruth Rees from Martin Rees Jewellers saying she has the Heritage Trail leaflets.

The Forum was told that the leaflets ‘look attractive’ and will be placed in locations in Wrexham and the surrounding areas. Wrexham.com will have more on this shortly!

Under the subject of ‘Environment’, grass cutting in Wrexham was raised. Chairman Kevin Critchley said he thought Wrexham was a ‘green area’, adding that the roundabouts were looking ‘very attractive’ at the moment.

One member of the forum mentioned the reduction in grass cutting in some areas, using the the Gresford roundabout as an example. The member said that the roundabout is the entrance to the town, but agreed that this was part of the nationwide cutbacks – no pun intended.

The subject of grass cutting in Wrexham is arguably one of the more topical discussions at the moment, with many people taking to Twitter and Facebook to comment on the lack of grass cutting in the area.

Some people have taken matters into their own hands, with Jason tweeting us over the weekend to say that he had cut the grass behind his house in Llay. However today in the town we did spot some grass cutting taking place.

A summary of the Town Centre crime statistics was also provided by Inspector Paul Wycherley, which we hope to bring more detail of later.

The forum was told there has been a drop in the level of anti social behaviour in the town centre during the day. However it was pointed out there has been no decrease at the night – with the notorious area outside McDonalds raised as a night time problem.

A number of upcoming / planned events for the town centre were also announced, including the ‘Real Ale Trail’, which is coming to Wrexham on Saturday 20th September. The popular Wrexham Food Festival will also return to the town on Saturday 17th May and Sunday 18th May.

The forum was also reminded this year also sees the 80th anniversary of the Gresford Mining Disaster. Back in March, Wrexham.com reported that a group had been established to ‘preserve the memory’ of those who lost their lives in the disaster.