Does Wrexham Town Centre Need Less Pedestrianisation?

The idea was floated at this afternoon’s Town Centre Forum Meeting by a town centre trader with the aim of encouraging more people to the town centre.

Currently much of the main town centre, such as Henblas Street, Hope Street and sections of Chester Street are currently pedestrianised.

However Rob Clarke from Mad 4 Movies in the Butchers Market noted that reducing the pedestrianisation and introducing a very low speed limit on Henblas Street and Hope Street, could be a way at getting more people into the town centre.

He said: “Basically being in the Butcher’s Market for a long time you get speaking to traders and customers. It seems to be one of the biggest problems we have is that people aren’t coming into town as much.

“It might be a radical solution, but how about getting rid of pedestrianisation in town? I can see why it was needed in the 90s and early 00s, but it’s outdated.

“Looking at other towns, we have too much pedestrianisation for how big Wrexham is. We could have a scheme where it’s one way up Hope Street and around Henblas Street, along with bays where people can pull in to drop people off or park for a very short period.”

Chairman of the Town Centre Forum Nigel Lewis said: “They are valid observations and there are lots of people removing it. Times have changed, I think when a lot of towns put it in, we didn’t have Cheshire Oaks, or out of town retail parks or supermarkets on every corner of Wrexham. More people go to Tesco 3 or 4 times a week than in to town as they run in, spend 30 quid, as thats the way it works, mainly due to the quick free parking.”

Mr Lewis continued onto say that the topic will be added to the Town Centre Forum agenda and investigated further.

During the meeting Wrexham.com tweeted: “Interesting proposal in Town Centre Forum to see some pedestrianised streets re-opened up to cars with short stay parking. Any thoughts?” triggering a few replies…

@wrexham I already thought they had with the amount of drivers that drive down the centre of town when they shouldn't.

— Andy Jones (@andyjones2390) June 7, 2016

@wrexham didn't they pedestrianise it to stop boy racers?

— Just JoJo (@justjojo202) June 7, 2016

@wrexham Driving through Mold the other day I did think the same thing. Makes the town.centre more visable and accessible.

— Chris De Burger (@t__r) June 7, 2016

@wrexham would be handy for people to nip into shops and it would make the town look alive again

— June Hayward (@HaywardJune) June 7, 2016

@t__r @wrexham I use Mold a lot and so nice to be able to park on the main street to pop quickly into a shop of the bank.

— nick bell (@jn13ell) June 7, 2016

@wrexham would kill the town even more. one of main benefits of Wrexham is being able to walk through it without threat of being run over

— Brekkie (@Brekkietweets) June 7, 2016