Major Plas Madoc Refurbishment Works To Start In Weeks – Drop In Event On Wednesday

Major improvement work at a housing estate in Wrexham is set to begin in the next few weeks.

Homes in Plas Madoc are set to be modernised as part of Wrexham Council’s project to ensure they achieve the Welsh Government’s Welsh Housing Quality Standard by 2020.

As part of the project 400 ‘Cubbitt’ (steel framed) houses owned by Wrexham Council will be fitted with cavity wall insulation. The insulation is designed to improve the energy efficiency of properties which are generally harder and more expensive to heat than traditional cavity-wall insulated brick houses.

Where required, properties on the estate will also be reroofed.

A number of empty properties in the Peris and Gwynant areas of the estate will also be demolished as part of the improvement work to the estate.

Plans to demolish the 22 ‘difficult to let’ properties were approved by the Executive Board in April 2017. During the meeting last year it was noted that the ‘three storey properties offer little to landscape and environment as well as being unpopular and difficult to let’.

The Council say the extensive project will also offer an opportunity to make improvements to the environment and landscape of the estate – potentially including the redesign of public spaces, parking areas, new fencing, enlarging gardens and providing new build housing.

Lead Member for Housing, Cllr David Griffiths, said: “Following many months of preparation and consultation work with the local tenants and residents, we can now announce that the improvement work will begin during the next few weeks.

“The first steps will include demolishing properties in Peris and Gwynant. These have traditionally been unpopular and difficult to let and they offer very little to the appearance of the estate. Demolishing them will open up these areas and help us improve the estate from an environmental perspective.”

“The external wall insulation will also make a huge difference. It’s designed to make colder homes easier to heat so this will hopefully mean reduced energy bills for many of our tenants.

“Installing the insulation also allows us to dramatically improve the external appearance of the properties. We’ve worked hard to go the extra mile with the design work and we hope to repeat the success we’ve had with similar schemes we’ve carried out in areas such as Cefn and Johnstown.”

A drop-in information event on the improvement work will be held at Plas Madoc Leisure Centre (in the Aqua Lounge) on Wednesday, 9th August, 2pm-6.30pm.

Anyone is welcome to attend and housing officers will be on hand to answer questions and there will also be a chance to meet and speak to the contractors carrying out the work.

A CGI video preview of how the estate could look was produced earlier this year by a partnership between Wrexham Council’s Housing & Economy Department and Wrexham Glyndwr University: