Following discussions during Executive Board around the future potential uses for the Rhosddu Road site in which Centre 67 was formerly. The discussions were seeking agreement to commission of a feasibility study to demonstrate the potential uses for the Rhosddu.
The site is on the same land as Springfield Sheltered Housing which makes up 41 properties on the land. The location is close to the City Centre which has sustainable transport links back and to.
Senior Management responsible for the service are currently working closely with the Assets team to consider options for the development of a purpose built facility which will meet the needs of service users both now and in the future.
We’ve allocated £9 million from the Housing Revenue Account budget to support this development for much needed social housing to meet the growing demand for new homes and hoping that the feasibility study will be conducted by the end of Summer. The feasibility study will look into all aspects of the land, and what can be achieved within it, whether that be housing stock alone or a mixed use.
Councillor David A Bithell Deputy Leader of the Council and Lead Member for Housing said “We’re working hard to secure new homes and I’m very pleased to support the potential for new development on the site. We will now be undertaking a detailed review of the site with our aspirations to put Council housing on the site.
There have been a number of reminders this year about the importance of following planning rules, as local landowners and business people were issued fines in court for ignoring Enforcement Notices.
What are Planning Enforcement Notices?
They are legal documents, sent when development has taken place without planning permission or when development has taken place which departs from the planning permission given. They require breaches to be remedied.
So, what has happened in Wrexham?
In the last few months, thousands of pounds has been paid in fines and fees by local landowners. Wrexham Council’s Planning Service is highlighting the importance of complying with planning rules and Enforcement Notices.
Among those fined, a person occupying land in Llwyneinion Woods paid a total of £744 after putting buildings on land without permission and creating unauthorised access to it from a classified road. While in Penley Woods, a business was being run from the woodland and Enforcement Notices were issued, but not complied with, and the business owner was ordered to pay a total on £1160.
The largest fine was issued to the owner of a Wrexham farm, after an area of hardstanding had been laid without planning permission. The landowner was also storing non-agricultural vehicles on agricultural land. These breaches led to a total fine of £2282.
Councillor Terry Evans, Lead Member for Planning and Public Protection, said: “We take failure to comply with planning rules and Enforcement Notices very seriously.
“Landowners should work closely with our Planning Officers before undertaking development to make sure they stay within the rules, which are there to protect the County Borough and its residents.”
David Fitzsimon, Chief Officer for Planning and Economy at Wrexham Council, said: “Planning regulations help to protect the environment and our communities and breaches are taken seriously. Officers will not hesitate to take enforcement action, including prosecution, where it is expedient to do so.”
“I would strongly recommend that landowners contact the Planning Service before undertaking any development. The Team can provide advice if you’re unsure whether your project will need planning permission.”
Back by popular demand! Tŷ Pawb’s free lunchtime concerts are returning!
Introducing Matinée: Classical and Contemporary Concerts – a serene hour of blissful music, taking place every other Wednesday, 1pm-2pm, between May 10 – August 30.
The concerts are open to all ages and will feature a host of hugely talented musicians (many of them local to Wrexham) performing a variety of styles and genres, from classical guitar and piano to intimate acoustic folk music.
There’s some great food and drink available just next door in the Food Court, plus don’t forget to have a browse around the beautiful local shops in the market, and the sunning artworks on show in the gallery for the Disability Arts Cymru Arts Award exhibition.
Full programme
0/5 Achille Jones (Guitar Recital)
24/5 NEW Sinfonia // Curated by NEW Sinfonia
7/6 Bruce Davies (Solo Piano)
21/6 Alison Loram with Yuki Kagajo Violin & Piano)
5/7 Joe Semple (Solo Piano)
19/7 The Gentle Good (Contemporary Folk)
2/8 Ennio the Little Brother (Acoustic Performance)
16/8 Rachel Lloyd & Matt Nicholls (Singer-songwriter Duet)
We want to inform our residents who are subscribed to the chargeable garden waste collection service that renewals for the next service year (2023/24) will open in July, so they don’t need to do anything just yet.
Charge will remain at £25 per bin per year
Cllr Hugh Jones, Lead Member for Environment, said: “Renewals for the upcoming service year will open from Monday, July 3, 2023. Please don’t attempt to renew your garden waste collections before this date. The 2023/24 service doesn’t start until Monday, September 4, 2023, and residents will have several weeks to renew ahead of their first collection.
“We’re pleased to once again freeze the cost of the service at £25 per green bin per year, which is less than what many other authorities in England and Wales charge.”
There have been occasions recently where residents have contacted us to say they had mistakenly paid for our current service year (2022/23), without realising it only has a few months left to run.
Residents can still join our 2022/23 service which costs £25 per-bin, but need to be aware that it runs until September 1, 2023, so they will only get around 3.5 months of collections if they join now.
Please don’t be mistaken into thinking you will receive a full 12 months service by joining now. New sign-ups wanting to get a full year will need to wait and join the upcoming 2023/24 service from July to receive their first collection in September.
To avoid any confusion, we’ll be turning off online payments for 2022/23 on Friday, May 26, 2023. Anyone who wants to join after this date will need to call Streetscene on 01978 298989 to make a card payment.
Action Fraud has received over 3,400 reports of fake emails pretending to be from TV Licensing.
The email says that the recipients TV License is about to expire or that there was an issue with their latest payment. But please be aware – the links provided lead to genuine looking websites that are designed to steal personal and financial details.
Roger Mapleson, Trading Standards and Licensing Lead, said, “This and all other scams are designed to steal either your finances, your personal details or both.
“This particular scam is particularly official looking using TV Licensing logo but always be aware of emails that are official in nature but that you weren’t expecting. Follow the advice below to check it out and let others know about it.”
How do I know if it’s a scam or not?
Real TV Licensing will include your name and/or part of your postcode in their emails. Many scams simply use your email address or say ‘Dear Customer’ so always check this out.
Their official email addresses are donotreply@tvlicensing.co.uk or donotreply@spp.tvlicensing.co.uk.
If you are a TV Licensing payment card customer and you make mobile payments via the TVL Pay app, you may receive emails from noreply@paypoint.com. The sender’s name will show as ‘TVL Pay’.
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A former school in Wrexham has been shortlisted by Welsh Government as a potential anchor site for a National Contemporary Art Gallery for Wales, and Wrexham Council has received £25k to further develop its proposal.
The detailed bid has now been submitted and if successful, it will secure the re-use of a prominent listed building, subject to all of the necessary consents being obtained.
Councillor Mark Pritchard, Leader of Wrexham Council, said: “We continue to explore all options for both the building and the site, and we’re pleased that the Groves has been shortlisted.
“We’ve tried tirelessly to find uses for the site and we’ve had many false dawns. We did have aspirations to put a new 21st Century school on there, but that didn’t materialise.
“We also explored the option for a medical training centre, but again it didn’t happen. So we’re hopeful that this time, we’ll have a more positive outcome.
“Wrexham is already a major cultural hub and Wales’ newest city, so it makes sense to look at how we can potentially accommodate a new art gallery for Wales.
“A national gallery would complement our existing cultural hubs such as Ty Pawb and the planned football museum, and would significantly add to the cultural offering in North Wales.
“I would like to thank all of our staff who’ve worked tirelessly on this bid application.”
An initiative that helps Police find missing people with dementia quickly and safely is being re-launched across North Wales.
The Herbert Protocol is an initiative originally developed by Norfolk Constabulary in 2011, and encourages family and carers to compile useful information which could be used in the event of a vulnerable person going missing.
The Herbert Protocol initiative is named after George Herbert, a War veteran of the Normandy landings, who lived with dementia. George continually went missing from his care home and the police would have to find him.
Carers, family members and friends can complete the form in advance, recording all vital details, such as medication required, mobile numbers, significant locations relating to the individual and a photograph. In the event of your family member or friend going missing, the form can be easily handed to the police to reduce the time taken in gathering this information.
The form can then be printed out and stored in a safe, easily accessible place in the person’s home, or kept by a family member electronically. For relatives in a care home, staff there should be contacted initially by a family member to discuss completing the form and it can then be included in an individual’s care plan.
The scheme is being re-introduced across North Wales as part of the National Dementia Action Week (15-21 May).
Superintendent Owain Llewellyn from North Wales Police said: “Every minute is crucial in tracing missing people with complex vulnerabilities, including dementia and so having this information available could be very helpful to Police.
“When a person goes missing, it is very distressing for family and friends. The Herbert Protocol encourages carers and families to record vital information on a form in advance, before a moment of crisis. Having this form to hand when a loved one is missing can speed up the search and mean the family or carers are not struggling to recall information when they are stressed.
“Over the last 6 months, 50 individuals who have disclosed dementia, have been reported missing to North Wales Police, so we are pleased to be working closely with partner agencies on the further expansion of this initiative and we would encourage people with dementia, families and carers across the region to use this form so that it can be provided to Police if needed.”
Working closely with the North Wales Safeguarding Board the initiative is being actively promoted whereby booklets and information leaflets are being distributed across pharmacies, hospitals, surgeries and dementia centres across the region.
Professor Tracey Williamson, Consultant Nurse for Dementia at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, which is a member of the North Wales Safeguarding Board said: “There are a little over 5,000 people with a known diagnosis of dementia in North Wales and an estimated 4,800 people undiagnosed with dementia.
“As people live longer, there is expected to be a 64% increase of people living with dementia in North Wales between 2017 and 2035, which would mean around 7,000 more people living with the condition.
“By working together and promoting awareness of the Herbert Protocol, we can ensure people with dementia who go missing, have the best possible chance of being found quickly. The Herbert Protocol is not just about what someone might look like or be wearing. It can have valuable information such as what language a person with dementia now uses and what name they would respond to.”
Every 15 minutes another child comes into care, needing a foster family in the UK. Every day there are about 70,000 children living with 56,000 foster families.
As families across the country struggle with the ongoing cost of living crisis, Foster Wales is calling on employers in Wales to become ‘fostering friendly’’ in hopes of addressing the misconception that you cannot continue working if you become a foster carer.
This Foster Care Fortnight (May 15-28), local authority fostering services in Wales are calling on the wider business community to lend their support and make it easier for their employees to combine fostering and working.
According to the Fostering Network, the UK’s leading fostering charity, nearly 40% of foster carers combine fostering with other work and their ‘fostering friendly’ policy encourages employers to provide flexibility and time off for employees who are prospective foster carers and are going through the application process.
The scheme also supports employees who are already foster carers, to allow time off for training, attendance at panels, to settle a new child into their home and to respond to any emergencies which may arise.
Having the support of an employer may make the vital difference in the decision of an employee to become a foster carer.
Alison from Wrexham is proof that working full time is not a barrier to becoming a foster carer. She made her dream of becoming a foster carer a reality in 2020 whilst continuing to work full time for Wrexham County Borough Council. She said: “I had always wanted to foster but I thought I was unsuitable as I was still working full time, single and over 50! But the team at Foster Wales Wrexham have been so encouraging from the start. There is a lot of flexibility.
“As I work for Wrexham Council, I get additional annual leave for fostering with my local authority, which I use to attend meetings, training and reviews. With the support from my own family, my social workers and the team at Foster Wales Wrexham, together, we have made fostering work for me.”
Cllr Rob Walsh, lead member for children’s social care, said: “The Fostering Friendly employers scheme is really important and offers businesses of any size the chance to make a difference for foster carers and the children they care for in, their local communities. It also improves support for their own employees at the same time.
“With so many foster carers who combine fostering with other work it is important for them to know they have a supportive employer to enable them to balance employment with caring for looked after children. I encourage employers in the county borough to look into ways they can become fostering friendly to help their employees make a difference to the lives of looked after children in Wrexham.”
Head of Foster Wales, Alastair Cope, added: “As the need for foster carers continues to grow, we need our community in Wales to step up.
“We know that when children stay connected, stay local and have someone to stick by them for the long term, we see better outcomes.
“So, if employers in Wales can support their employees in becoming foster carers, local authorities can help more children stay connected to their roots and ultimately, support them towards better futures.”
The origin stories of six Welsh football clubs are to be told in a series of brand new short films.
The films have been funded by Welsh Government and produced by the team at the new Football Museum for Wales (currently being developed inside Wrexham Museum as part of the Museum of Two Halves project), working with Cardiff based media company, EatSleep Media.
Each film clocks in at around 15 minutes and features exclusive, candid interviews with key individuals from the clubs and the communities who support them.
Six clubs agreed to be filmed for the project, representing the six area associations across Wales.
The clubs documented are Caernarfon Town FC (supporters club, North Wales Coast FA) , Ruthin Town FC (youth football, North East Wales FA), Aberystwyth Town Ladies FC (amateur women’s team, Central Wales FA), Merthyr Town (club playing in English league system, Gwent County FA), Pontyclun FC (amateur men’s team, South Wales FA), African Community Centre AFC (inclusion club, West Wales FA).
The films will be premiered individually at a number of events taking place across Wales over the summer. The films will also be made available to view for free online, following each premiere. Further details and launch dates are due to be announced shortly via Football Museum Wales channels – see details at the bottom of this article.
Accompanying the filming crew on their travels around Wales were the Football Museum Wales Engagement Officers, Shôn Lewis and Delwyn Derrick.
Delwyn shared his experience of creating the films: “This project has been an amazing experience. We went out to tell the stories of the origins of clubs from across all regions and all levels of football in Wales. We didn’t have a massive production crew, we didn’t have a special effects budget, we didn’t even have an umbrella between us one particular day of filming, but what we did have was a story.
“We spent time at clubs with over a hundred years of history and clubs who have only just started their Welsh football journey, but the story that I found fascinating, inspiring and surprising in equal measure, was that no matter the age of the club, the level of the club or the geography of the club, it seems that every football club in Wales has that small group of hardworking, dedicated and passionate volunteers.
“I wasn’t uninspired when we started these films, but I have come away from them even more inspired than ever before. Football is still a community game in Wales and I think that’s great, because if it’s a community game, then that means that it’s still our game, played for the love of the football. The last couple of months have been an absolute whirlwind of late nights, early mornings, cold wind, colder rain and literal hours of travel, but every second of it done with a smile.”
A platform for Welsh clubs to have voices heard
Lead Member for Partnerships and Community Safety at Wrexham County Borough Council, Councillor Paul Roberts, said: “The new football museum may be being developed in Wrexham – the spiritual home of Welsh football – but it’s mission will be to tell the story of football across the whole country, from grassroots community clubs, all the way up to the national teams.
“This project is a superb example of the engagement work the new museum will be carrying out. As well as documenting an important aspect of Welsh football heritage, the films have also given a platform for the communities who support these clubs to have their voices heard and to share some very thought provoking insights and experiences on what it’s like to run a football team in Wales.
“The films make for compelling viewing and I’d encourage everyone to take a look as they are released online over the next few months.”
Find out more
You can join the Football Museum mailing list to receive updates about the project, more stories from Welsh football history, plus information about how you can get involved.
Follow Football Museum Wales on:
Facebook – Amgueddfa Bel Droed Cymru / Football Museum Wales
