Old Vicarage demolition: “We are planning to clear the whole site to build new Council homes”

Wrexham Council’s Lead Member for Housing has committed the future of the site of old Vicarage in Rhosddu following demolition to building new council owned social housing.

On Monday we reported how a protest is planned ahead of demolition of the old Vicarage in Rhosddu by Wrexham Council. In the article we detailed how Rhosddu Councillor Marc Jones was unhappy at the Lead Member for Housing, Cllr David A Bithell, stating “I’ve asked the lead member and chief housing officer for details of the plans they have in place for this site. I haven’t, to date, had an answer”.

Cllr Jones had expressed ‘concern’ that ‘the political leadership could yet sell the site – especially once cleared of this building – to make a profit’.

We invited the Lead Member and Council Leader for clarity on the future of the Centre 67 building and site, and if a historically stated commitment for social council housing on the wider site was still held in the current new administration. We also queried if there were any plans for the Greenacres site, and if there were any plans shareable on the wider site as a whole.

Cllr David A Bithell told us, “I was disappointed that Cllr Jones stated to Wrexham.com he had received no reply, this is untrue and misleading and I would expect better from the Leader of a political group. For clarity we are planning to clear the whole site to build new Council homes which are much needed in Wrexham as the waiting list is over 4,000.

“This has been supported at the Executive Board and Full Council. I find the whole situation extremely disappointing that Cllr Marc Jones does not support new Council homes being built in Rhosddu. He seems to be focusing on a disused building which has laid empty for 14 years. Officers are currently looking at the whole site and when this work is complete we will present the business case and consult with the local member.”

Leader of Wrexham Council Mark Pritchard said, “I find the whole situation bizarre from Councillor Marc Jones who seems to be suggesting he does not support new Council homes to be built in Wrexham when we have a waiting list of over 4,000. Wales in facing a housing crises and as Leader of the Council I will not rest until we provide much needed additional Council homes within Rhosddu and Wrexham.

“I will not play petty politics with Cllr Marc Jones who seems determined on playing games on very serious issue.”

Cllr Pritchard said “It is hypocritical for the Chair of Plaid Cymru who pledged along with his party in their 2022 manifesto to reduce homelessness and build more energy efficient carbon positive social housing.

“I received an email from Cllr Marc Jones confirming he would back demolition on the old vicarage (C67) and if he agrees I will share this email into the public domain.”

We asked Cllr Marc Jones about the email in question, and he told us he had shared it last night with all councillors willingly.

Cllr Jones shared what he emailed councillors, “You’ll be aware from yesterday’s correspondence that the council leader asked for permission to post an email from me regarding the demolition of the old Vicarage (aka Centre 67).

“The email dates from July 2017, two months after I was elected. I’m sharing it below.

“As you can see, it followed a meeting where the council leader called me in to discuss the proposed demolition of the building. I went away to do some research and found the council had turned down two credible bids to buy the buildings for housing and for a training academy.

“At the time, the proposal was to sell off the site for a capital receipt and I had a number of questions about the plans. I didn’t receive a response to those questions.

“I’ll let you be the judge as to whether this is an email from five years ago was supportive of demolition.

“I look forward to seeing a number of you on the protest against this demolition at mid-day on Saturday.”

The email provided is copied in full below:

From: marc jones
Date: Tue, 4 Jul 2017 at 11:31
Subject: Demolition of Centre 67, Rhosddu Road
To: Mark Pritchard

Dear Mark

Thanks for the opportunity to discuss the future of Centre 67 last week.

I’ve also discussed it and the wider possibility of development of the Greenacres adult social services site with Steve Bayley.

I have concerns about demolishing any historic building – this was the former vicarage for St James Church – so any decision would need to consider the following:

1. Has it been marketed for alternative use? In 2014 there were two expressions of interest.

2. Would retention of the building block development on the site behind?

3. What sort of housing would the wider site be used for – elderly/sheltered? Council/Housing association/private?

4. If sold, would the capital receipt be ringfenced for education and, specifically, new schools on the Groves site?

If I can get assurances that there is no practical alternative use, that it would be used to meet existing local housing demand and that any receipts would be ringfenced for developing education at The Groves site, then I would back demolition.

yours

Marc