Wrexham joins the ride on the city merry go round!
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Why do Council Members have a private Workshop to find out about City status when it is something that affects ALL residents in Wrexham. They should have shared all of the presentation with the survey they have out out. It is hardly worth looking at the survey as there are questions but no background to anything..
The two slide on the Wrexham.com page has a title Economic Benefits yet there is no evidence- will the title of Wrexham City in a business address really attract business investment or would their priority be good communications – road, rail Hi Speed Internet and a workforce with necessary skills be more important. Town centre investment – unless there is a massive upturn in footfall the investment from retail stores will not expand from what is happening today.
Does anyone have any evidence base to show why we would all benefit from Wrexham being a City- open to all suggestions??
What makes a City?
Distinct identity:- Wrexham is known throughout the UK by its Football Club, nothing else comes to mind.
Civic pride:- There is nothing in Wrexham. Capital of charity shops.
Cultural infrastructure:- The majority of the population do not speak the Welsh language.
Record of innovation:- Ty Pawb the Jewel in the Crown.
Sound governance and administration:- Heads of services jumping the sinking ship. Heads of portfolios working from outside the country.
Associations with Royalty:- Who was the last Royal and when, to visit Wrexham?Nothing on the Council website about the poll. People who do not follow wrexham.com will not know about it. The secret society.
Jimbow, I think everyone should cut and paste your answers into the survey because i don’t have anything positive to add.
45% of shop units empty,
Costa Coffee shops, charity shops, hair dressers
Caia Park (formerly Queens Park – removal of an Association with Royalty) is the 9th poorest area in the country,
Wrexham FC with Hollywood owners, have 13 points (1.44 per game) and are 12th in National League (5th Tier)
People living in the biggest town in North Wales are more likely to speak Portuguese or Polish than Welsh
Association with Royalty – Welsh forces burned down Holt in 1400 during the uprising of Prince Owain Glyndŵr
Councillors working from home .. 5000 miles away and the Council is “full of old men in grey suits”
and from the Twitter feed “Traffic lights not working on Gresford, man from company sat in van playing with his phone… traffic and roadworks in @wrexham at the moment are just a disgrace @wrexhamcbc”
I would suggest this is a vanity project for our lead councillors. In turn, I would suggest to them that rather that bid for something no one appears to want, they turn their attention to something that people time and time again say they do want – a decent market town.There is no lack of ambition in wanting to improve what we already have, indeed that might be more challenging. Of course the population have to play their part too and use the town centre. The council don’t open and close shops, shoppers and shopkeepers do that and no one will open a shop if they ain’t going to sell from it. Stop internet buying if you want a better town!
I’ve responded to the survey and commented almost identically to Jimbow.
I’m not holding my breath though that the likely overwhelming comments on social media or indeed in the survey itself opposing the idea of City status, will ever see the light of day.Somehow, by smoke and mirrors, certain quarters will manage to put a positive spin on the results and proceed regardless.
I fail to see or understand how city status would be beneficial to Wrexham because all that it would do, would be in name only with the additional costs passed onto the long suffering residents of the Borough.
JaneJ:- Good question you ask. Why do Council members have a private workshop to find out about City Status?
Could it be, it shows the Council to be democratic. However, those members are then not allowed to vote on the final decision, undemocratic. The final decision being made by the Executive Board.
I have been informed from somebody who attended the workshop that the meeting revealed there was no evidence of any benefits from City Status.
Distinct identity:- Spice capital of Wales
Civic pride:- People tend to proud that they are not far from Llangollen and Chester.
Cultural infrastructure:-
Record of innovation:- if you go back to 1805 the Aquaduct at Fron was cutting edge. Not so much innovation these days.
Sound governance and administration:- Einsteins that decide not to provide bins because people tend to put litter in them. Endless crazy planning decisions. Constant city status bids purely so they can demand higher pay now they are in charge of a city.
Associations with Royalty:- Does Hollywood ‘royalty’ count? Her majesty did choose Wrexham for one of her largest prisons.There is a lot of negativity toward the City Status thing.
Distinct identity:- Russ Abbott used to live in Rossett
Civic pride:- Russ Abbott used to live in Rossett
Cultural infrastructure:- Richard Gwyn was a Catholic schoolmaster and martyr, who was hung, drawn and quartered at Wrexham in 1584
Record of innovation:- in 2012 there was a campaign for free Wi-Fi in Wrexham town centre .. not sure if its working yet
Sound governance and administration:- Councillors and Top Bosses now have to pay to park and the police station is miles away from the trouble
Associations with Royalty:- Princess Di’s light fingered butler once stood in the dock of Court One at the Old Bailey, accused of stealing 310 items together worth £4.5 million. He was a florist in nearby Farndon
Distinct identity:- It has successfully built up a nationwide reputation for being the place to be if you want to watch spiceheads.
Civic pride:- Most residents have little positive to say about the town, and generally complain about the empty shops.
The town was once elegant and well-built. Until subsequent philistine councils succeeded where the Luftwaffe failed, demolishing many of the attractive older buildings. They were subsequently replaced with eyesores. This process still continues today, they won’t be happy until every pre-1950s building has been destroyed.
Cultural infrastructure:- The native Welsh language isn’t even among the top 3 most spoken languages in the town.
Record of innovation:- Bersham Ironworks were revolutionary; the Aqueduct was a cutting edge piece of civil engineering and is deservedly a World Heritage site; we were also the first town in UK to produce its own lager.
In more recent times, Wetherspoons has introduced an app that allows me to order food and drink to my table.
Sound governance and administration:- A council that has presumably taken inspiration from the Roman Republic. Pretending to be democratic, but in reality power is held by a small number of self-serving individuals
Associations with Royalty:- George Jeffreys, also known as “the Hanging Judge”, came from Acton. He remains one of the most despised people in British history. He eagerly put to death opponents of the Crown in a series of show trials.
Queen’s Park was renamed Caia Park, presumably because the Queen didn’t want to be associated with it.
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