Councillors ‘publicly declare dismay’ as demolition work starts on old Vicarage

Demolition work has started on the old Vicarage in Rhosddu, in a move that has been branded ‘civic vandalism’.

As we have long documented there have been plans in place to knock the building down, with last minute pleas this week from local councillors to Wrexham Council to stop the work.

Cllr Carrie Harper has published the below video, where the local councillor for Rhosddu Marc Jones lays out his views on the issue, and again accuses the Executive Board and Council Leader of keeping people ‘in the dark’.

Appalling behaviour from @wrexhamcbc, demolishing Centre 67 in Rhosddu early to avoid local opposition. Cllr Marc Jones is right, the current council leadership are an utter disgrace @wrexham #wreckingWrexham pic.twitter.com/mEFo1XGRPQ

— Carrie Harper 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 (@CarrieAHarper) November 16, 2022

Yesterday we published a response from the Lead Member for Housing Cllr David A Bithell, and Council Leader Mark Pritchard where they accused Cllr Jones of ‘hypocrisy’ and ‘playing games’ – you can read that in full here.

In what is becoming common, a joint statement between a Plaid Cymru and Labour councillor has also been issued on the matter.

Cllrs Marc Jones and Malcolm King issued the below jointly:

We are writing to publicly declare our dismay at the determination of the Executive Board to press ahead with the demolition of yet another part of Wrexham’s heritage, the old Vicarage on Rhosddu Road. Its demolition is due to start next week.

The Chief Housing Officer has recently confirmed that there is no masterplan in place for the site. We are not aware of any funding in place for new housing on the site.

Yet in June 2021, when the full council debated this matter, the lead member for Assets told the meeting that there was a masterplan in place. We believe that the council was misled by the lead member into supporting the demolition.

We would also like to make clear that we are not opposed to the demolition of the Vicarage (aka Centre 67) under any circumstances. But the apparent determination to consistently supply inaccurate information in order to justify its demolition raises questions about motivation.

We hope that people in Wrexham who believe that policies are best driven by honest facts will join us in opposing this act of civic vandalism.

Cllr Marc Jones
Rhosddu Ward County Borough Councillor

Cllr Malcolm King OBE
Wynnstay Ward County Borough Councillor

The statement gives a flavour of what has been going on behind the scenes, with yesterday’s invite to a protest on the site on Saturday politely declined by the Lead Member for Housing Cllr David A Bithell who replied-all to councillors saying: “Good evening Marc please accept my apologies for Saturday”.

Separately in an extraordinary email to all councillors, that we understand is now being more widely shared outside the council, serious allegations have been made by Cllr Malcolm King who claims ‘a pattern of misinformation’ over the last decade relating to the old Vicarage / Centre 67 building and Wrexham Council has taken place. Wrexham Council’s Chief Executive and Legal Officer were copied into the email containing the claims, as well as all councillors.

(Top pic: The site yesterday afternoon)