Calls For Strategic Plan & Partnership Working Amid Frustration Over Wrexham Town Centre

Calls have been made for a more strategic plan and partnership working, amid frustration over the current challenges facing Wrexham Town Centre.

The calls were made during September’s Offa Community Council meeting, which saw local business owners, residents, Wrexham’s MP and both local and community councillors voice their concerns over the town centre.

During the meeting there was debate over what could be done to prevent further deterioration and noted that while empty shops were not exclusive to Wrexham, more needed to be done to stop the problem from escalating further.

One description often likened to Wrexham is a ‘doughnut’ with lots of large scale developments such as Eagles Meadow, Island Green, supermarkets and retail parks having shops on the outskirts of town – however not a lot left in the middle.

Speaking at the meeting, Wrexham MP Ian Lucas referenced a piece published recently on on his Facebook page, which outlines what he thinks could be potential options to help the town thrive again.

Mr Lucas said: “I wrote a discussion piece to provoke a debate and I did that as the town is raised often to my constituents. It is a major concern and has been for a period of time. Since the closure of BHS there has been a feeling that things cannot go on as they are.

“The issues with towns are not exclusive to Wrexham. There is an all party group in Westminster to focus on towns there is concern across the county.

“We have a situation in the centre of the town has expanded. There is Border Retail Park and Central Retail Park – there are places there for retail but they are not central parts of the town but are used for non residential development.”

Mr Lucas also made reference the former Hippodrome site on Henblas Street, which has been advertising retail opportunities for several years.

He added: “There is a lot of pressure for housing. There are big targets on local authorities for housing. We have a well established town area and there is strong resilience against using green barrier. It makes sense to use land in the town for development.

“Town will always be the focus but we have extended in other areas and moved over. We need to think where the main parts of retail should be and we should be wary to extend further parts of the town with more retail.

“At the moment slipping behind in Wrexham. Want to see Wrexham success and to spread prosperity that we see outside the town centre.”

Offa community councillor Martin Morris said: “With the town centre so many mistakes were made, which culminated in the financial crisis. We don’t need more shops, some parts are successful like Island Green and Eagles Meadow.

“We have got a lot of competition from Broughton where you can park right outside the shops. We need private sector investment, but that won’t come unless people spend. We need more big offices in the town and people working in the town centre.”

He added: “It seems to be getting worse. BHS has closed, Peacocks, Bodyshop and the Post Office has moved. The council are limited in what they can do.”

One key point often raised when discussing the town centre is business rates. Speaking to Wrexham.com last week First Minister Carwyn Jones stated that there will be an announcement to help small businesses in the next few weeks. He also urged landlords to be more creative to attract tenants.

Referencing business rates, Alex Jones, who owns The Bank Bar on High Street in the town centre stated that business rates are a ‘killer’ and that it is medium sized businesses who employ 20 people who are hit hard.

Mr Jones also referenced the upcoming review on business rates in Wales and the lack of indication on whether they will increase, decrease or stay the same.

However Mr Lucas noted that he had made representations to Welsh Government about business rates, adding that policies need to be in place which favour town centres.

He said: “If you want town centres to prosper you have to shift burden of business rates away from town centre businesses.

“We have done a lot of in town centre with the street festival and there is a buzz about that. But we need to get those shops in town occupied and need to engage better. We need a plan for how we want the town in the future and work with Welsh Government.”

Questions were also asked over seemingly lack of vision in the town, with Community Cllr Kevin Hughes referencing the lack of Fanzone for the recent Euro 2016 games. He added: “I would like to see a lot more strategic leadership from the council, Welsh Government and Parliament.”

However Cllr Phil Wynn noted that much that had taken place in the town centre had been out of Wrexham Council’s control.

He said: “Take TK Maxx for example, we cannot stop them from moving. BHS, does anyone have control of that? TJ Hughes created footfall to that part of town and we have not seen it back there.

“I would suggest to Ian some standard in which properties which is empty for several years has to revaluate their business rates. It’s chicken and egg.”

These statements were echoed by Cllr Alun Jenkins, who stated that the percentage of empty shops in Wrexham is less than in Chester and towns and cities around that area.

He said: “The council can only go so far. The owner is supreme. If they won’t develop the land then won’t. Everything works against the council.”

However Mr Lucas said one ‘failing’ of the current administration at Wrexham Council ‘is that it has not formulated a plan about the town’s future’ and that the local authority ‘does not take enough action over deteriorating properties’.