Redrow Homes submits plans for 1,500 houses and new school in Wrexham

Plans to build more than 1,500 houses, a new primary school and community facilities on the edge of the city centre have been lodged with Wrexham Council.

The authority’s planning department has taken receipt of outline proposals from Redrow Homes for land at Lower Berse Farm near Ruthin Road and Ysgol Clywedog.

According to the design and access statement submitted with the plans by The Environment Partnership on behalf of Redrow, the mix of housing will be determined by market conditions at the time and include a range of one to three-bed affordable homes and three to four-bedroom private homes.

While full details on the design and size of the proposed 1,520 properties are reserved matters at this stage the outline plans hint facilities such as a community hall, children’s nursery and a public house could also form part of the development at a later stage.

According to a planning statement 15 per cent of the development would be affordable housing and the proposed primary school would accommodate up to 420 pupils.

Submitted on Redrow’s behalf by The Planning Consultancy, it says: “In addition to the primary school and open space mentioned above, it is proposed that a local centre will be provided in the north-western corner of the development, just off Ruthin Road.

“The local centre will therefore be accessible, not only to residents of the development but also to other people living and working in the locality.

It adds: “The local centre will be based on a conversion of the listed buildings at Lower Berse Farm, where it is envisaged that the more recent utilitarian agricultural buildings will be demolished and replaced with new buildings more appropriate to the setting of the listed buildings.

“The precise mix of uses to be provided would be a matter for further discussion and consideration at the reserved matters stage, however, it is envisaged that the local centre would most certainly include a shop(s) providing for everyday requirements (newsagents, top-up groceries, off-licence etc) together with other community facilities such as a community hall, children’s nursery and a public house.”

Vehicle access is proposed from the A525 Ruthin Road and Bersham Road.

The proposals also include a series of highway improvements at the A483 junction, together with the details of the access points into the site itself, that would allow additional traffic generated by the development to be accommodated on the highway network, according to the developers.

A petition against the mooted proposals was started in the summer about the loss of green land, potential increased pressure on the NHS and Wrexham’s infrastructure, and the prospect of a new water treatment facility being developed to accommodate the development.

But the planning statement highlights the council’s lack of a Local Development Plan, that it’s Unitary Development Plan expired 12 years ago and that this site was included in the draft LDP which could yet be imposed by the Welsh Government.

It states: “It is clear that the council no longer consider it necessary for the application site to be designated either as green barrier or as a special landscape area, it would be illogical to resist development on the basis of policies that the council admits itself are no longer appropriate.

“The appropriateness of the application site for development has been considered by the LDP inspectors who have also concluded that the site is an appropriate site for development.

“This conclusion has had regard to all material considerations including housing need, the present green barrier and Special Landscape Area designations, ecology, heritage, agricultural land quality and access.”

The plans can be viewed in more detail via the planning section of Wrexham Council’s website.

Wrexham Council planners will make a decision on the proposals at a future date.

Pictures: Planning documents / Redrow Homes

By Rory Sheehan – BBC Local Democracy Reporter