‘Fantastic’ Wrexham Play Day Praised By Town Centre Forum

Last Wednesday’s Play Day at Queen’s Square and Llwyn Isaf was described as ‘fantastic’ at the Town Centre Forum meeting this morning.

Thousands of children and parents attended the event last week, that saw a giant sandpit take over Queens Square; along with water balloons, a scaffolding jump and a makeshift plastic sheet water slide.

Speaking about the success of the Play Day, Town Centre Forum Chairman Kevin Critchley said: “Queens Square and Llwyn Isaf were packed. Remember it wasn’t a beach, it was a sandpit.

“I wish we had persevered with the original idea, whoever made the decision to cancel it was wrong.

“We should take this as a lesson in future and not pay attention to people who do not know what they are on about.”

The Play Day was initially meant to be part of three day scheme, which would have involved local businesses, free fun for children and families and live local bands playing. However the ‘Wrexham-On-Sea’ (as named by Wrexham.com) beach idea was scrapped in June due to a negative backlash. In the June meeting, Mr Critchley said: “It was not the media itself, it was letters to the media.” However we pointed out in our report of that meeting, that the beach idea was not just criticised by those who wrote letters in but also in a local paper’s editorial comment. You can read our report of the beach idea being scrapped here.

Since this, a similar idea to turn Buckley into a temporary beach has been given the go ahead and has received a far stronger backing from the same publications.

Amusingly it was pointed out that the Play Day wasn’t actually a beach and was a giant sandpit because a “different type of sand was used”.

Discussions on why the beach was cancelled included the risk of using tax payers money, which led to the suggestion of perhaps looking into more events funded by the private sector.

The publicity around events was also mentioned, with the suggestion of ‘Counter Propaganda’ used, and also informing the press early enough so that events such as the Play Day are advertised earlier in the town. Wrexham.com would also suggest that hard copies of figures of funding are given out so there can be no errors in reporting on costings – an incident that occurred for the beach.

One member of the forum pointed out that for people who are unable to take their children away for the day really appreciated having the Play Day in town.

Cllr Carole O’Toole said: “We have to learn lessons from this year and need to learn lessons on how to interact with the press and start preparation earlier”.

Cllr Neil Rogers added: “It was an opportunity missed for Wrexham, and it didn’t cost parents a penny. Widnes On Sea have had something similar for three years, and there is a scheme in Cardiff that has also been a success.”

Speaking about the potential of future events, the Forum agreed that planning should begin sooner rather than later, with Mr Critchley saying: “If Widnes on Sea can, then we can. I think we should get together and start planning ahead for next year.”

Did you go to the Play Day / ‘Beach that wasn’t a beach’ day? Tell us what you thought on our forums…