£20m city improvement plans for Wrexham outlined

Liam Randall, local democracy reporter

Plans worth £20m to revive the fortunes of Wrexham city centre have been outlined following claims that crime and poor transport links are causing residents to spend huge sums elsewhere.

In September 2023, Wrexham was announced as one of 55 towns and cities selected to take part in the UK Government’s Long-Term Plan for Towns scheme.

It means the city could receive up to £20m over the next ten years to help deliver improvements.

A report has now been revealed by members of the Wrexham City Board, which includes community and business leaders, detailing how they intend to boost the area’s economy.

The ten-year plan will serve as a business case to secure government investment, with the initial tranche to be spent over the next three years.

It shows how a range of issues are causing people living in Wrexham to spend tens of millions of pounds in nearby towns and shopping centres instead of their own city.

Numerous challenges

The document states: “The city centre faces numerous challenges. Some relate to the prevailing general decline experienced by most town and city centres throughout the UK, and others are specific to Wrexham.

“Although £101m is spent annually by residents in Wrexham city centre, with an additional £6m spent by workers and £6m by tourists (totalling £113m) there is significant leakage of spend from the local population.

“Those living in Wrexham spend more (£137m) in Cheshire Oaks, Broughton and Oswestry, which are all out of county. They also spend £72m online.”

It adds: “Out of town shopping and leisure destinations are also having an impact, £41m is spent in Plas Coch, which acts to intercept visitors before they reach the centre of the city.

“Wrexham’s numerous out of town retail parks are favoured due to their convenience and are often the default choice of many time-poor households.”

High crime rates

The report highlights high crime rates as one of the main problems needing to be addressed.

It follows figures being released which show the city’s crime rate is nearly double the Welsh average at 181 incidents per 1,000 of the population.

The report states: “Available data and engagement activity undertaken by the Wrexham City Board indicates that safety is recognised as an issue of greater concern in Wrexham than many other parts of Wales.

“In 2023, the recorded crime rate was higher than the Wales average both across Wrexham county borough and more significantly in the city centre area.

“Data commissioned by the Wrexham City Board from North Wales Police indicates that crime has declined in all categories across Wrexham’s city centre ‘beat area’ over the past three years.

“Despite this improvement, the city centre remains a hotspot for both crime and anti-social behaviour.”

The most frequent crimes reported in 2023 were violence without injury (2,101 incidents), theft and handling (1,675), and anti-social behaviour (1,443).

Within the city centre, the bus station and Crescent Road area were flagged as the main hotspots for anti-social behaviour.

Crime in general was most prevalent on a section of the High Street nearest Town Hill and Abbot Street, where many of the city’s nightspots are located.

City centre wardens

Measures proposed to address the issues include introducing city centre wardens, improving CCTV systems and installing automatic rising bollards to manage key locations.

Transport and parking issues in Wrexham are also reported to have made residents spend elsewhere.

The report states: “Wrexham, part of the North Wales transport region, along with Flintshire, has a high dependency on car travel, with 84 per cent of journeys made by car.

“Despite the area having the highest proportion of the population with access to hourly public transport during peak morning hours (73 per cent), this figure drops significantly during evenings, weekends, and Sundays.

“To enhance Wrexham’s transport network, there is a need to improve the frequency and hours of public transport services and make driving less appealing to promote sustainability.”

The document shows improvements to walking and cycle routes will be made, as well as enhancing local bus services and investing in smart parking sensors.

The report is due to be discussed by members of Wrexham Council’s executive board on Monday (July 29, 2024).

Senior councillors will be asked to approve the plan for submission to the UK Government before the deadline of August 1.