Calls to pause demolition of ‘Centre 67’ building to be debated at Extraordinary council meeting this week

Calls to pause the demolition of a building in Rhosddu to allow a public consultation to take place will be debated by councillors this week.

Members of the Plaid Cymru group submitted the motion to debate plans to knock down ‘Centre 67’ on Rhosddu Road at an Extraordinary General Meeting of Wrexham Council.

It is amongst three motions due to be put before all 52 councillors on Wednesday (June 23) afternoon.

The five Plaid Cymru councillors put forward the proposal to pause the demolition of the building for six months after a previous application effectively timed out.

The building was last used in around 2005 and there were hopes that it could be be turned into a community hub.

Future use of the site was mentioned in a partially secret meeting last year, with the possibility of social housing on the site referenced throughout the public section of the meeting.

In their motion the councillors call for the six month pause to be used to allow for public consultation to take place and potentially find an alternative use for the building.

The motion reads:-

This council notes the decision of the Executive Board in January 2020 to authorise demolition of the old Vicarage on Rhosddu Road. The stone and slate-clad building is structurally sound despite being derelict for the past 20 years.

This demolition decision was made without any public consultation and went against the view of the local councillor, who believes the building could be repurposed for community use.

The demolition decision was taken before the pandemic and subsequent changes in the way people work, the lack of community space in which to meet and work in the vicinity and the need to consider local residents’ mental health and well-being mean that the decision needs to be revisited.

The building, a prominent historic building in the community, is now scheduled for demolition in the coming weeks at a cost of at least £50,000.

This council calls on the Executive Board to pause the demolition for six months to enable public consultation to take place on alternative uses for the building to benefit the community.

Signed
Cllr Marc Jones
Cllr Carrie Harper
Cllr Gwenfair Jones
Cllr Becca Martin
Cllr Phil Rees

The Extraordinary General Meeting of Wrexham Council will be webcast live on the Wrexham Council website at 4pm on June 23.