St. Mary’s state intention to relocate to new school on Nine Acre field – campaigners vow to “fight to protect what’s left of our green spaces”

St. Mary’s school have said they will be ‘named’ as the school that is looking to relocate to the Nine Acre field, and intend to start preplanning consultation in three weeks time.

Wrexham Council’s aim to build a school on the field has been a long stated goal, however the identity of the school itself has officially been a mystery, despite the information apparently being described in one recent Part 2 meeting as yet another ‘worst kept secret’ in Wrexham.

The school itself made the announcement in it’s regular newsletter, which has also been sent to parents.

Previously the identity of the school was not publicly known, with a couple of councillors noting the ‘information gap’ had created speculation on the Wrexham.com Forums.

The move to the Nine Acre may not be straightforward with more than a hundred residents who live nearby already organising to oppose it following a public meeting in September, and have launched a website for the cause – 9acre.org where the identity had already been made known . The council previously attempted to sell off part of the field for housing under a previous administration in 2004. However, the plans to raise money to bridge a large overspend on a school re-organisation project were abandoned in the face of a strong public backlash back then.

Following the u-turn, there was a dispute over access to the site as the authority placed locks on the gates. Wrexham.com has had the position of the council re-iterated in recent years, that the field is not considered a ‘public space’ or for ‘recreation’ use, is surrounded by a fence, ‘…and hasn’t been available for community use for quite some time’.

Campaigners have said, “The pressure to build on green space in Wrexham is growing as the town expands. If the 9 Acre is built on, it is gone forever, like so many other green spaces that have disappeared from Wrexham in the past.”

They also note a historical Executive Board decision from 2004 that stated the Nine Acre Field “…be retained by the Council for use as public open space” and that they requested “…possible options to make the site more accessible to the public and so increase its use as public open space”.

Recently we have reported on the domino effect of any such development, with the field currently used by Wrexham Football Club as a training facility. Is is believed that alongside the moves for a school the waters will be tested to see if the covenant on the section of the Groves fields will be flexible or removable to allow a new training centre to be built there. It has not been confirmed if the plans for a school on the Nine Acre fail what that would mean for the offer for a 99 year lease to the football club on the Groves.

The full statement from the school to parents reads, “As a school community, we have achieved so much together. ‘Excellent’ and ‘Outstanding’ inspection reports from Estyn and the Wrexham Diocese, numerous sporting achievements plus national awards are some of the more tangible results of that success. However, we do recognise that the range of experiences and opportunities we need to provide for our children in future years may be limited by our school’s present location.

“It is with great excitement therefore that we are able to announce, that as part of the 21st Century school development programme, St. Mary’s has been recognised by Wrexham Council as a priority for relocation to a purpose built, state of the art new school. The proposed location is off Chester Road, close to the town centre, and is known locally as ‘Nine Acre Field’ ”

“To commence, Wrexham Council is shortly to engage in a consultation exercise in relation to the planning application. This exercise will be public and opens on 6th March 2020 and closes on 3rd April. As part of that consultation, St. Mary’s school will be named.

“We do recognise that this is the first stage in what will be quite a lengthy process. It is also important to recognise that as a Catholic school, progress will be subject to consultation with Bishop Peter & the Trustees of the Diocese.”

“Once the consultation exercise commences, further updates will be provided as and when available. You will kept informed, not only with scheme progress, but also how in future years. it is to provide a high quality, enriching education for our children.

“The potential relocation of St. Mary’s to a new, purpose built school, with excellent facilities represents a huge step forward and one that all staff, children and parents we are sure, will welcome.”