3 days ago
Wrexham councillors vow to fight Cefn Road 900 homes plan
An outline planning application has been submitted for up to 900 new homes on land off Cefn Road.
It has been lodged by Harworth Group for a development named Erlas Park - located close to the Erlas Victorian Walled Garden and Wrexham Rugby Club. The proposed development site is mainly made up of open grassland and a smaller area of woodland.
The proposed development site layout. (Image: Planning documents) The land had been earmarked as part of Wrexham's Local Development Plan (LDP). Last year, Cllr Marc Jones won a landmark Court of Appeal case over the controversial LDP.
The Court of Appeal ruling quashed the High Court judgment of Mr Justice Eyre made in December 2023 and dismissed the controversial judicial review brought by developers seeking to force through a local plan rejected in April and June 2023 by a cross-party majority of Wrexham councillors.
The Welsh Government then lost its appeal against the decision at the Supreme Court earlier this year.
Cllr Andy Gallanders, representing the Rhosnesni ward, said: 'I was disappointed to learn today that a fresh application has been submitted to the authority for up to 900 dwellings off Cefn Road.
Cllr Andy Gallanders (Image: Local Democracy Reporting Service) 'I urge all residents to submit comments to the consultation. The site has been on the cards with the now failed LDP and we'd hoped the developers would have heard the voices of the people of Wrexham.
'If this site is allowed to be developed on it would cause a huge disruption for residents of Rhosnesni with a decade of building works and loss of valuable green space."
He added: 'This isn't a case of nimbyism but an honest look at the infrastructure we have in the area. For example, The Greyhound roundabout has been declared 'at capacity' by highways with very minor changes proposed. This is just one example but look at the GPs and schools - all struggling for a multitude of reasons.
'We need homes, of course we do, but they have to come with the infrastructure, be affordable for our residents and not at the cost of green land.'
What the Erlas Park development would look like. (Image: Planning documents) Cllr Carrie Harper, whose Caia ward is adjacent to the proposed site, said: 'The majority of councillors voted against adopting the LDP precisely because of development proposals like this. This scale of development will damage Wrexham.
'There is undoubtedly no need for it, especially with over 3,000 houses locally already having planning permission and not yet built. These houses won't be affordable for the vast majority and development on this scale will put huge pressure on local services and infrastructure."
Cllr Carrie Harper (Image: Newsquest) She continued: 'It's important to remember that councillors were threatened with jail for refusing to adopt the plan which included this site. Some faced a six-month police investigation by North Wales Police and other complaints against councillors are still ongoing.
'Despite everything thrown at us, we won the argument at the Court of Appeal and ultimately the Supreme Court. They backed the local democratic process and our right not to accept this plan.
"This was no easy victory, we had to crowd fund to finance lawyers to take on the Welsh Government, Wrexham Council and a series of developers who were all determined to force this plan on us."
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Cllr Harper added: 'Following the court case, there is no planning framework to support this application, the LDP has been legally quashed.
"The likely situation is that Wrexham will now revert the previous Unitary Development Plan and its policies, which set out that this development site is outside of settlement and should not be granted planning permission.
"Campaigners will fight this development all the way, it's not morally or legally acceptable to try and force these developments on our city following the court case.'
