Town Traders Call For Coach Parking In Town

The lack of coach parking in the town centre came under fire by traders in the town at yesterday’s Town Centre Forum meeting.

Discussions on coach car parking in the town have been ongoing since August of last year, when members of the Forum stated that Wrexham was being ‘bypassed’ by coach operators due to lack of facilities.

The town does currently have two coach drop off points at Stand One at the King Street Bus Station and park at the Wrexham Arriva Depot in Caego if they pre-book.

However many traders have called for a coach only car park to help draw tourists to the area.

Councillor William Baldwin has been looking into potential options in the area since the summer, and in the October Forum meeting reported that using Cresecent Road for parking would cost £17.5k, while Grove Rd would cost £7.5k.

Speaking in yesterday’s meeting, Cllr Baldwin stated that options in the town had been looked into and reiterated that the town needs some form of coach parking.

One potential location that had been looked into was the Crown Building site, however this was vetoed due to the site not being ‘appropriate’ due to health and safety reasons.

Joanne Rogers, from the Council’s Environment Department stated that concerns had been raised about the number of large vehicles around pedestrians on the site.

Alex Jones from The Bank stated that the bus station has large vehicles and pedestrians in the same location and queried how this would effect health and safety.

Chairman of the Town Centre Forum and Eagles Meadow Manager Kevin Critchley said: “We need to come up with a procedure to reduce the risk, I can’t believe there isn’t a safe way of doing this.

“It is ridiculous that Wrexham does not have anywhere for coaches to park. We are trying to get tourists and people into the town. If we have a hope of growing the town centre as a tourist destination, we need somewhere for coaches to park.”

Miss Rogers and Cllr Baldwin agreed to look into alternative coach parking options.