Wrexham.com’s Look Back At 2016 – Part One!

Happy New Year! Whilst many are glad to see the back of 2016, we’d like to take you on our annual trip down memory lane to look at some Wrexham stories from the past 12 months.

The following are just some of the stories that appeared to tweak the interest of readers, and are not the most read or most engaged with or the like.

We’d like to thank our readers for all your continued support / emails / tweets / pictures of bins over the past 12 months – we look forward to doing it all over again in 2017!

JANUARY

Get Behind The Arts Hub 

In the first of several appearances in our 2016 round-up is the controversial Arts and Cultural Hub / Market Space. As we revealed following accidentally leaked documents in the December and over New Year the project will have to be subsided year on year, deemed a cost of culture at the time with it being noted at the time “there will never be a point where the arts and cultural element makes a profit.”

On January 12th the Executive Board unanimously backed plans to press ahead with the Arts and Cultural Hub / Market Space. There’s far too much to mention about that particular meeting, so our lengthy, few thousand word report can be looked at here for your own reading pleasure.

Year Long Groves Battle Begins…

Cast your minds back to January 12 2016 for an Executive Board unlike any you had seen before.

After a lengthy debate, the majority of the Executive Board backed the plans to demolish the school – thus beginning almost 12 months of twists and turns (which were later branded ‘farcical’) – the meeting report is well worth a revisit.

Cheaper Parking in Waterworld

There was good news for shoppers on the horizon, with Wrexham Council announcing that cheaper parking prices in Waterworld / Crown Building Car Parks was to come into force later in the spring.

The new charges saw the return of the popular three hour car parking option and all day parking at the weekends in a bid to help boost Wrexham’s economy.

FEBRUARY

Uncertainty Over Health Centre’s Future

The future of Pen-y-Maes Health Centre was surrounded by uncertainty at the start of 2016 after it was announced that the surgery’s GPs would be ‘terminating their contracts’ with Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board.

After a series of public meetings about the surgery, BCUHB took over the running of the Pen-y-Maes in October 2016 – offering assurances that they were ‘working hard to rebuild the GP team’.

Wrexham’s Super Prison Gets a Name!

On February 17 the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) announced Wrexham’s new Category B and C prison would be called ‘HMP Berwyn‘.

The name was selected from a shortlist of six, with other names submitted including: Bridgeway, Marcher, Cerrig Tan, Dee Vale and Whittlesham – although readers pointed out that last one was a typo of Writtlesham!

Speaking at the time, Cllr Hugh Jones, Lead Member for Communities and Partnerships, said: “I welcome the announcement on the name of the new prison, and I’m especially pleased that it has been officially given a Welsh name.”

Mineshaft In A Wrexham Road Confirmed As Pothole

One of the more light-hearted stories of the month was also one of the most popular! In February potholes and the number of them across Wrexham sparked quite a debate online.

After being sent a pothole / mineshaft picture by Phil (shown above) after repair works undertaken in New Broughton a discussion erupted online about where the worst potholes are in Wrexham. The aforementioned potholes were quickly rectified – along with some others on Chester Road being filled in after we reported on twitter that we thought there had been a mortar attack.

Local Development Plan Begins – 13,000 Houses on The Horizon?

One of the more topical stories of 2016 surrounded Wrexham’s Local Development Plan 2 and the prospect of up to 13,000 new homes being built on brownfield and green spaces across the County Borough.

In February residents had the chance to have their say on the outline plans – which will eventually be used as the basis for decisions on land use planning in Wrexham.

Council Defend Town Centre Vacancy & Business Rates Concerns After Facebook Hammering

Wrexham Council were forced to respond to criticism about empty shops in the town centre after an online consultation saw over 200 comments hammering shop vacancy, lack of footfall and car parking posted to the Council’s Facebook page.

Following the ‘feedback’ Cllr Neil Rogers, Lead Member for Economic Performance and Regeneration, responded to the comments and addressed what Wrexham Council are doing to help regenerate the town.

A recent report found that although Wrexham has a ‘higher than expected’ town centre vacancy rate, just two Council owned shops remain vacant – so progress in 2016!

MARCH

Stereophonics ‘Glyndwr University Racecourse Stadium’ Gig Announced

In one of the biggest musical events in Wrexham for years, March saw the announcement that Welsh supergroup Stereophonics would be playing to a crowd of 20,000 fans.

The event, which would be Wrexham’s first stadium gig since 1982, resulted in huge demand – with tickets selling out within an hour.

Wrexham Football Club Signs 99 Year Lease

In a string of positive off the pitch stories in 2016 for the football club perhaps the most long term significant was the signing of a lease for the Racecourse. This fans-owned effort was in great contrast to the utter let down by a Council Planning Committee ‘gamble’ – which has seen a jackpot of £12m go everywhere but the club itself.

Wrexham Man Who Rescued 73-Year-Old From Burning Car Hailed a ‘Hero’

In one of the most heartwarming stories of the year, in March a Wrexham man was hailed an ‘angel’ and a ‘hero’ after risking his life to save a 73-year-old grandmother who was trapped in a car fire on a busy motorway.

24-year-old Will Edwards was a passenger in his girlfriend Alison’s car when they spotted a vehicle on fire on the side of the M60 near Barton Bridge in Greater Manchester. He smashed through the window of the vehicle to rescue 73-year-old Anne Edwards, who had become locked in the car.

Will later received a Pride of Britain Award for his ‘outstanding bravery‘ and heroic achievements.

Wrexham Council Vote to Keep Ownership of Indoor Markets

Although one is now to ‘temporarily’ close while the Arts Hub development is underway, the town’s indoor markets were described as a ‘key hub’ and kept under the Council’s ownership and day to day control. At this point traders said they had ‘faith’ in Wrexham Council with regards to the markets, and that the Council had profited off them for many years so investment was expected. We will see in 2017 the progress report on how that has gone.

APRIL

Guerrilla Operation Sees Miners Memorial Become New Icon of Wrexham’s Skyline

In April 2016 Wrexham.com was inundated with questions about a ‘guerrilla’ sculpture which had appeared on the Bersham slagheap, near the Rhostyllen Roundabout.

It was later revealed that the sculpture was in a fact a memorial to local miners – with local sculptor Ian Walton and around ten volunteers unofficially haul up 120 kilos of concrete and install the large steel man via guerrilla methods over a three hour period.

Wrexham Town Centre Masterplan is Approved

An ‘aspirational masterplan’ that aims to take Wrexham Town Centre forward was backed unanimously by councillors in April 2016. It was noticed by some that the document is not a firm plan nor requirement, but more of aspirational guides for developers on how the town could develop looking forward. As we noted there is lots of tax payer funded research on this topic out there that people are not allowed to see – with FOI’s rejected when placed to see their content.

Wales Comic Con Draws Huge Crowds

A regular on our yearly round-ups is Wales Comic Con, which this year played host to its first ‘weekender event‘. Now in its eighth year, this was the first time Wales Comic Con had hosted an event over an entire weekend – and going by the volume of people who attended, it was a gamble which paid off.

The event brought Wales Comic Con their biggest audience to date, with around 10,000 visiting Wrexham Glyndwr University across the weekend to see all the wonders that were on offer.

First Day Sees 100+ Litter & Dog Poo Fines – But Eagles Meadow Opt Out Branding It ‘Disproportionate & Immoral’

By now most of us are aware of the ‘zero-tolerance’ approach to littering and dog fouling in Wrexham.  However this wasn’t the case in April 2016, when a tougher clampdown on those dropping litter and not clearing up after their dogs, was introduced.

A total of 100 £75 fines were issued across Wrexham and Chirk on the first day of the zero-tolerance clampdown, causing Eagles Meadow Manager Kevin Critchely to brand the response as ‘disproportionate’ and others calling the enforcers ‘ninjas’ due to their black uniforms.

MAY

Welsh Assembly Elections!

The start of May was election time and the first time in 2016 that Wrexham were to cast their votes – with a full set of candidates for the openings, and more coverage than probably any other constituency in Wales. We did Q&A’s with party leaders, the candidates and more – with our now traditional coverage from the count – relive the fun and games here!

Wrexham on Eurovision

Not one of the hard hitting news stories of the year – however this year’s Eurovision certainly attracted a lot of attention locally when the Racecourse was used in the introduction segment to the UK’s entry.

While the UK didn’t win the competition, an audience of around 195 million saw Wrexham’s historic Racecourse on TV – and that was enough locally for social media that evening, despite the Liverpool kits.

Focus Wales & Food Festival

May also played host to a bumper few days of events in the town centre, with thousands turning out to bask in the sunshine and enjoy some delicious food and live music – courtesy of Focus Wales and Wrexham’s Food Festival.

Wrexham Council Votes to Welcome Syrian Refugee Families

Wrexham Council voted to take part in the rehousing of refugee families from Syria, with a range of opinions on social media. On the whole people were in favour, but the ‘disappointing negativity’ of some was noted in the Guildhall chamber.

JUNE

The Fanzone That Wasn’t a Fanzone

It had been decided there would not be an official Fan Zone for the Euros, and despite several grand raised and a plan put together for a ad-hoc community effort it was not possible to get one together in time. The scenes on the High Street were enough though with thousands of football fans joining forces to create their own ‘fanzone’ – and what an atmosphere it was.

Summer Flash Floods Hit Wrexham

Rain inside the Iceland supermarket, roads flooded, cars going on fire and a house fire after a lightening strike…! A memorable if not bizarre escalation in the weather inside a couple of ‘summery’ hours.

Groves gets listed for the first time

George Lucas is looking at taking an option for the films rights to the saga, with Episode I being ‘The Listing’. This decision appeared to be the final say at the time, but who knew what was to come!

Brexit! Wrexham Votes Leave.

June 23 2016 saw thousands of eager and frustrated voters turn out in their droves to cast their vote the EU Referendum. Come 10pm that evening it was apparent there had been a huge turnout. Initially it appeared that Remain were due to win, with Leave comments being about conspiracies involving pencils and pens on voting papers. As usual we did our full election coverage before the vote, and our on the night coverage was unique with the only other local media outlet deeming it a minor issue not worth covering (!)

Shortly before 3am it was announced that Wrexham had voted the same way as the majority of the UK and backed the leave campaign. For those interested in the figures and how it went relive the wonderful result / utter nightmare depending on your point of view by clicking here…!

Check back on Wrexham.com shortly to find out what the biggest stories were between July and December 2016. We hope you are all having a safe and fun New Year’s Day!