A view from Clwyd South’s Member of the Senedd

Wrexham.com has invited Wrexham & Clwyd South constituency Members of Parliament and Members of the Senedd to write a monthly article with updates on their work in Parliament and the Senedd, and closer to home. (You can view an archive here).

Clwyd South MS Ken Skates writes…

Since my last column, I have written to the UK Government to call for urgent assurances that the chaos which has engulfed Downing Street will not derail the bid to revamp the Racecourse Ground.

I contacted the new Levelling Up Secretary Greg Clark on the day he was appointed to ask for confirmation that long-awaited funding for the Wrexham Gateway project will be announced soon, and I am eagerly awaiting his response.

This is a joint project between the UK Government, the Welsh Government and Wrexham Council. As I said in my letter to the Secretary of State, the political turmoil at Westminster cannot be allowed to hold up this transformational project. So much hard work has gone into it already, and the Welsh Government has already pledged millions of pounds of funding.
It will be huge for Wrexham and the redevelopment of the Kop will not only provide a stadium befitting of a football club and county borough on the up, but will also enable us to host regular international football at the Racecourse again.

Last week I received confirmation from Wrexham Council that work will be carried out to make the Aldi roundabout in Ruabon safer.

I had written to the council a few days earlier to call for new road markings and signs at the roundabout, which links traffic coming from the A483 to Rhosymedre, Acrefair and Ruabon. I’m pleased that the council responded so quickly and positively, and I hope the clearer road markings and new signage will make it crystal clear to drivers which lane they should be in.

The council has also said it will look at the issue of speeding on the approach to the roundabout from the direction of the A483, which is another issue Ruabon councillor Dana Davies and I have raised previously on behalf of local residents.

I have now received a progress report from Wrexham Council regarding the plans to repair the landslide damage to the B5605 at Newbridge.

I wrote to the council on May 11 to ask for an update to share with my constituents, including a timescale for the work, following the confirmation of crucial funding from the Welsh Government.

I was recently sent a copy of a report to councillors which said the ‘anticipated target start date’ is early autumn and the work is expected to take around 50 weeks. Wrexham.com has also covered the update in further detail here.

I will continue to press the council to provide regular public updates and will also raise any questions from constituents with the relevant Lead Member, Cllr Hugh Jones.

I have written to Euro Car Parks, which operates the car park at Island Green, to challenge a fine issued to one of my constituents who made an error inputting his car registration details.

To issue a fine of up to £60 for an ‘admin charge’ for a simple mistake – when someone has already paid for their parking – is, in my view, unfair and appears to be motivated by nothing but greed.

We know from previous negative publicity that this isn’t an isolated incident. My colleague, Wrexham MS Lesley Griffiths, has raised concerns about the way the company operates previously, and this isn’t the first time I’ve had a constituent come to me with a complaint about Euro Car Parks.

Wrexham is on the up. A lot of people are working hard to make it a more attractive place to visit, and things like this don’t reflect well on our area and are simply going to put people off coming back. I sympathise with local people asking whether this is the kind of firm we want operating in Wrexham.

It was brilliant to visit Ysgol y Waun in Chirk again just before the end of term for a real PE session with Key Stage 1 pupils.

It’s a fun programme which strips PE back to basics, helping children improve their physical skills and develop their coordination.

It was a pleasure to take part, and I’d like to thank staff and pupils for welcoming me.

This week I have a number of engagements and visits across Clwyd South and Wrexham, including joining North Wale Police on a shift in Coedpoeth, visiting HMP Berwyn for the first time, catching up with the team at the Development Bank of Wales and meeting Cllr John McCusker to discuss issues affecting Overton and Penley.

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Wrexham.com has invited Wrexham & Clwyd South constituency Members of Parliament and Members of the Senedd to write a monthly article with updates on their work in Parliament and the Senedd, and closer to home. (You can view an archive here).