Uni Vice-Chancellor: ‘Wrexham needs to support us’ after ‘incredibly disappointing’ planning committee decisions

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This article is old - Published: Friday, Jul 5th, 2019

Glyndwr University will be appealing recent planning decisions, with two out of their batch of nine refused this week by Wrexham Council Planning Committee.

In a long statement Professor Maria Hinfelaar, the Vice-Chancellor of Glyndwr University, points out her view that it was ‘unsatisfactory’ for councillors to grant planning permissions for plans that cost money, but at the same time refuse permissions on land that was earmarked to fund said plans.

Professor Hinfelaar says Wrexham “needs to support us” as she describes the plans in terms of the benefits they could bring to the town and surrounding area.

It is also noted that the university feels they are ‘well-placed’ to lodge an appeal, noting it “will be our next step” however will take time to lodge.

Due to the nature of the large scale of developments and applications we have the full copy of the opinion of Professor Hinfelaar below.

From Professor Maria Hinfelaar, the Vice-Chancellor of Glyndwr University:

On July 1, at a four-hour session of the Wrexham County Borough Council Planning Committee, nine planning applications submitted by Wrexham Glyndŵr University were discussed. Taken together, these nine applications form an ambitious package, “Campus 2025”, to transform the university for the benefit of our students and for the wider community.

On the main campus at Plas Coch, we aim to develop an ‘inner learning gateway’ at the heart of the campus, with brand new facilities for our Students’ Union and a refurbished restaurant. Lecture theatres, classrooms, specialist workshops and laboratories are going to be upgraded, while new spaces with exciting designs are being created for students where they can study independently or collaboratively in groups.

We respect the heritage of the building which will largely remain intact, but we are bringing out some of its original design features. For instance, the green quadrangle will be opened up and become a more natural thoroughfare. There will be much improved, pedestrian-friendly public space and the car parking will be moved to safer parts of the campus – which I’m sure concertgoers at the William Aston Hall will appreciate.

At Regent Street, our fine arts and design courses will still be delivered in the Victorian-age listed building which is their current home – but this building requires major work to ensure it does not deteriorate beyond a point where it is no longer fit for purpose. We are also planning to invest in additional student accommodation, both at Plas Coch and at Regent Street.

Our students and staff are enthusiastic about these new developments. This September, we will be welcoming students onto our new Physiotherapy course – the first time this is available in North Wales, in response to acute shortages in hospitals and care homes. We are also bringing new degree apprenticeships in Engineering to the region, in partnership with dozens of local employers, following a direct call for the skills of tomorrow from Welsh Government.

As well as the physiotherapists and engineers of the future, we train nurses, teachers, accountants, computer scientists, occupational therapists, police officers and social workers. Many of our students looking to enter these professions are local, and want to stay local once they graduate. Public services and industry in the region rely on the highly skilled graduates across so many different fields which Wrexham Glyndŵr University offers, building on the excellent track record of our precursor institutions such as NEWI.

But herein lies the crux. The physiotherapists, engineers, nurses, entrepreneurs and creative designers of the future need the best facilities, as well as the excellent teaching we provide, so that they develop the confidence and ability during their studies that will help them in their future careers.

And don’t forget – if our facilities are not good enough, then these students have plenty of alternative choices at universities the length and breadth of the UK.

Experience tells us that, in the majority of cases, once people have left North Wales to study elsewhere they will also take up career opportunities away from here. Such a scenario does not bode well for the future state of our health service, our schools, our manufacturing sector and many other parts of the economy which are so critical for the fabric of our society.

On July 1 2019, the Wrexham Council Planning Committee decided to grant approval for seven of our nine planning applications, which deal with developments around our Plas Coch and Regent Street campuses. However, they determined refusal of two further applications for residential development at Holt Road and Gatewen.

These sites are owned by the university but are not required, so their disposal forms part of the funding strategy for Campus 2025. Of course, we had factored mitigating measures into these plans, for instance the preservation of green space at Holt Road for use by a local football club. We had also ensured that the applications dovetailed with the emerging new LDP which clearly sets out additional housing needs.

Scheduled road improvements under Welsh Government, such as the A483 junction improvements near the Gatewen site, will go a long way towards alleviating the current traffic issues.

We are convinced that we addressed all concerns sensitively and that our applications were compliant with planning policy, so it was incredibly disappointing that the Wrexham County Borough Council planning committee decided not to support our vision for the future of the university and Wrexham as a whole. We do believe that we are well-placed to lodge an appeal which will be our next step… but that will take time.

I can speak for all my colleagues at the university to say we are committed to Wrexham and the wider region. This is demonstrated in so many different ways: our academic programmes, our research, our engagement with community groups, our graduates who contribute their knowledge and skills.

But I would strongly argue that Wrexham also needs to support us, so that we can invest in our future: your future and the future of our citizens through the full delivery of Campus 2025. Put simply, it is unsatisfactory to grant approval of proposals that cost significant money and then turn down proposals which help to fund them – especially if these fit in well with wider plans for the area.

This should have been a win-win, but that opportunity has been wasted – for now.

Over to you, Wrexham.