Wrexham's population has grown by just 156 in the past seven years - so why are we planning to build 7,700 new homes in the borough?

Next Monday sees Wrexham's Planning Committee decide on whether to approve 600 new homes on a greenfield site off the Cefn Road. It's part of a larger development that could total 1600 houses that would cover the existing rugby club and grounds if permitted.

Plaid Cymru locally has for the past decade argued that the basis for these huge greenfield site developments are being built on shaky foundations. Here we summarise our objections and hope that community need is put before developer greed when it comes to future planning permissions.

WHY ARE THEY BUILDING ON GREENFIELD SITES IN WREXHAM?

Wrexham's population has grown by just 156 people in the past seven years - so why are we planning to build 7,700 new homes in the borough?

Wrexham Council based its draft LDP on Welsh Government projections that estimated the borough's population would increase by a staggering 20% by 2036.

That projection estimated an increase of 1193 people every year from 2013 until 2028 (see table below). 

To date the average increase has been just 22 per year over the past seven years. Below is the Welsh Government's own mid-year population estimates:

2013 135,801
2014 135,953
2015 135,418
2016 135,408
2017 135,571
2018 136,126
2019 135,957

By 2014, there was new information and this incredible rise had been downgraded to 'just' 10% - still an increase from 135,000 to 150,000. It's still way out because Wrexham's population is static at around 135,000. 

As Plaid Cymru has said for a decade now, the population projections are flawed and, as such, do not provide a platform or rationale for building 7,700 new houses.

Wrexham has hundreds of empty properties that desperately need to be prioritised and upgraded to create homes. Office and commercial space in the town centre is also being re-purposed for urban living. 

So why do we keep seeing large-scale housing developments being proposed for greenfield sites?

In part it's because we have a planning system that's led by developers' greed rather than community need.

A community needs to expand to meet demand - that may need additional homes as well as jobs, services and infrastructure. The large developer is only interested in maximising profit - which means providing houses.

That's why we see, time and again, developers gaining planning permission with the promise of a community contribution and affordable housing only to return to the planning authority to plead poverty.

The planning authority should be there for the people of Wrexham. However all too often we see the planners ignoring community concerns and even their own draft Local Development Plan.

Eighteen months ago, Plaid Cymru's regional MS Llyr Gruffydd revealed that the estimated total housing allocation across the six counties of north Wales was just 400 a year - whereas Wrexham's LDP was planning for 517 annually in just one county!

Back then Mr Gruffydd, who is also Plaid Cymru’s shadow planning minister, said:

“Over the past decade, councils across the North have been pressured into adopting Local Development Plans based on high levels of growth and the consequent need to allocate land for thousands of new homes. Our contention has always been that these projections are based on a flawed analysis that depends too much on past growth rather than predicting future growth and specific local circumstances. 

“There is a case to say ‘rip it up and start again’ because the LDPs are based on over-estimates of housing need. That would create a lot of additional work for hard-pressed councils but we need to look at de-allocating greenfield sites for housing before it’s too late.  

“As we prepare for a National Development Framework for the whole of Wales, it’s vital that we take a bottom-up approach to community development rather than impose more unwanted and unrealistic targets on our local authorities. Part of the disconnect people feel with their national and local government is that developers rule the roost rather than communities. We have to redress that balance so that communities develop far more organically and provide the services, infrastructure and housing needed for the future.”

Councillor Carrie Harper, who has led the challenge to the overdevelopment of greenfield sites around Wrexham, said:

"There is a huge new estate of 365 homes currently being built in Llay, planning permission has been granted for 400 new homes in Stansty with plans for a further 455 on the circus field between Gwersyllt and Stansty.

"Add in the 130 approved for Rossett on top of the 1500 on Ruthin Road and more than 1600 on the Cefn Road and you have 4,150 new homes, most of which are being built on greenfield sites without adequate services, schools, health or infrastructure to cope. 

"Of course some new homes are needed as family units become smaller but the LDP was based on Welsh Government projections that the borough's population will rise significantly over the coming decades - initially it was 20% and subsequently downgraded to 10%. It's now clear that even that downgrading overstates the case. 

"Our focus needs to be on providing affordable homes for the many people on our waiting lists. The council is starting to build a small number of council houses to meet that need and we will be pushing for other pieces of council-owned land to be used productively like this."

Please sign our petition against urban sprawl in Wrexham: 

https://www.wrexhamplaid.cymru/no_to_urban_sprawl_in_wrexham