‘Centre 67’ old Vicarage set for demolition as final block ‘resolved’

A long debated demolition is set to take place after ‘tree related issues’ have been ‘resolved’.

The old Rhosddu vicarage also known as Centre 67, on Rhosddu Road, is due to be demolished after Wrexham Council announced plans to clear the site to make way for social housing.

Wrexham Council have told Wrexham.com now that tree-related issues have been “resolved”, plans to demolish Centre 67 in Rhosddu can continue – “hopefully paving the way for new social housing”.

The Wrexham Council-owned building has been vacant since 2005, and the council say clearing the site will allow them to “progress with looking at future options for the land – including detailed work on a masterplan”.

The future of the site has been discussed previously by councillors at both Executive Board and Full Council via a SGM called to halt demolition.

As we reported the demolition also managed to get infront of the Planning Committee much to some confusion from some councillors, as the issue debated was to ‘ensure that the demolition works didn’t adversely impact upon adjoining trees’  rather than the building itself. The local councillor Marc Jones observed at the time, “All we will be deciding basically is where to put the toilets and where to park the bulldozers.”

Recently the building has reappeared on local planning lists, with an update noting, “The proposal complies with Schedule 2, Part 31 of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995. Planning permission is not required.”

We asked Wrexham Council if there was a date for demolition booked in, and also asked why the issue had gone before Planning previously however was now deemed not required.

Although those two points were not answered, two Lead Members have commented on the demolition plan.

Cllr Mark Pritchard, Lead Member for Assets, said: “The preference is for a new-build social housing scheme. This would be similar to the fantastic work we’ve done at Nant Silyn and Hightown in recent years, where we’ve been able to build smart, modern homes for the people of Wrexham.

“However, to move forward with this aspiration, we need to clear key parts of the site, including the area of land occupied by Centre 67. So being able to demolish the disused building is an important step forward.”

Councillor David Griffiths, Lead Member for Housing, said: “Now the tree-related issues have been resolved, I’m delighted we can progress with exploring options for the site in more detail.

“The easy choice would be to sell the land to a private developer, but we don’t want to do that – we want to provide the right kind of housing for local people who need it.

“Demolishing Centre 67 will support both the cost of any new-build social housing scheme, and make it easier to meet important carbon targets and if we can realise our aspirations, it will be the latest in many successful housing projects we’ve delivered in Wrexham.”