Glyntraian Community Council (GCC) welcomes the decision taken today by Wrexham Council Executive Board to accept the recommendation of the Local Authority’s Corporate Land and Buildings Strategy Group to dispose of the former Ysgol Pontfadog site to a Registered Social Landlord for development as affordable housing.
GCC voted in March last year to accept an independent Feasibility Study & Recommendation Report, jointly commissioned with Welsh Rural Development Agency, Cadwyn Clwyd, which recommended the former school site be developed for a small number of low-cost starter homes.
The GCC vote was carried by 7-1 and followed a rigorous six-month community consultation exercise, including an options survey sent to all 323 homes in the community where housing was regarded as being of the highest benefit to the community.
WCBC’s Executive Board accepted today the Report’s recommendation that any low-cost housing on the site be tied into a local lettings and allocation policy in perpetuity and should include a community benefit embedded into the development. The Board also acknowledged Cllr Trevor Bates’ request made on behalf of the local community that the old school bell and certain items from the school building itself be kept.
Glyntraian Community Council Chairman, Cllr Graham Barrow said: “We now look forward to working closely with whichever Registered Social Landlord acquires the site. Our expectation is the developers will consult widely with local residents. In so doing, we anticipate that they will put forward a scheme the village can be proud of and crucially, one that preserves key heritage elements of the historic old school building.”