Blueprint for around 8,000 new homes in Wrexham based on ‘outdated’ figures

Wrexham Council has been urged to revisit a blueprint suggesting sites for around 8,000 new homes amid claims the figures are ‘outdated’.

In November a majority of councillors backed the submission of the county’s Local Development Plan (LDP) to an independent inspector despite concerns about the scale of development.

A Plaid Cymru politician is now calling on the local authority to reconsider after new Welsh Government guidelines drastically reduced the expected amount of extra housing in North Wales in the next 20 years.

Regional guidelines published this week show a central estimate of around 1,600 homes will be needed across the six counties each year for the next five years, which will later reduce to 400.

It compares to an annual average of more than 500 homes outlined yearly for Wrexham alone in its LDP.

North Wales AM Llyr Gruffydd said he had questioned the previous population projections since he was elected in 2011 and is now challenging the need to build on green barrier sites.

He said: “In its draft LDP Wrexham Council claims it needs to build 517 new houses a year to meet demand.

“The new projections show that, across all six counties in the North, we’re looking at an average of 400 by the 2030s.

“Despite this, planning officers are still using the old projections to justify their claims.

“We’re in danger of being bounced into making decisions based on outdated figures.”

The draft LDP was submitted despite strong opposition in several communities and claims the blueprint was ‘fundamentally flawed’.

Most of the issues raised centred around the amount of homes proposed, as well as the potential location of three gypsy and traveller sites in Brymbo, Hanmer and Llay.

However, council leader Mark Pritchard urged politicians to back moving the plan forward.

He told them it was the only way for people in Wrexham to maintain influence over the proposals.

Wrexham Council has been asked to comment on the new Welsh Government housing need figures, but had not responded at the time of publication.

By Liam Randall – BBC Local Democracy Reporter (more here on the LDR scheme).