Red Dragon to be refurbished as Co-op store

The Red Dragon on Prince Charles Road is due to be converted into a Co-op store, with a planning application having been submitted to Wrexham County Council.

Local councillor for the Queensway ward Carrie Harper said: “ I’ve been working with the team behind this project for some time now and am delighted the project will soon be going to the Planning Committee for approval. I’ll be supporting it wholeheartedly and am glad we can now announce it publicly for the first time following a lot of negotiation with the council.”

“The Red Dragon building has been deteriorating for some time and its central position in the ward have sadly made it an eyesore in recent years. I know locally the community will welcome the fact it’s being refurbished and will look forward to the work starting. The current Coop store we have is extremely well used and I’m sure local shoppers will also appreciate the extra choice a bigger store will bring. It’s fantastic news.”

Vanessa WarBrick from Northold Group said: “We are pleased to confirm that with the help and support of the local councillor, we have now submitted a planning application to convert and extend the vacant public house, formerly known as the Red Dragon on Prince Charles Road in Wrexham. Our application is to convert the vacant pub into a convenience store, which will be operated by the Co-operative, and the new store will replace their existing shop on Prince Charles Road.

The pub has been vacant and boarded up since previous attempts to revitalise it in 2011, and after working closely with local councillor, Carrie Harper, who has been instrumental in assisting us with our proposals, we believe that we have designed a new store, that is both in-keeping with the existing building and its surroundings, and will also benefit the local community.

If our application is successful, the new and improved store will help to create additional jobs in the town, due to a larger store being created, there will be a better product offering on sale, which gives customers an improved shopping range available locally, in addition to a better parking provision.

We are hopeful that our proposals will be well received by the planning authority and local community, so that we can bring life back into a building, which has lay empty for quite some time."