The judgement means that the plan, which included allocating greenfield sites for thousands of new houses, is effectively quashed.
It’s a significant victory for Wrexham councillors who refused to adopt the plan and were taken to the High Court by seven major housing developers.
That judgement was then challenged by Cllr Marc Jones on behalf of the majority of Wrexham Councillors in the Court of Appeal, which ruled that councillors had the right not to adopt a plan. This view was challenged by the developers, Welsh Government and Wrexham Council itself but three senior judges found unanimously in favour of Cllr Jones.
Cllr Jones said: “This latest legal challenge was the last chance for the Labour Government.
That’s now failed and they have to accept that Wrexham councillors had a legal right to vote they way they did.
“The past two years of legal challenges - initiated by the developers and stretched out further by the Welsh Government - has been very time consuming and difficult. It could all have been avoided if the Welsh Government had made a decision in April 2023 rather than hide behind the developers’ legal challenge.
“They wasted tens of thousands of public money on this legal challenge - while councillors have had to risk everything and fund the appeal court hearing themselves.
“Now it’s time to draw a line under this and ensure we have a plan that works for Wrexham. We’re calling on the Government to start talking to the council urgently.”
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