Watersports centre plans on hold amid safety row

Alec Doyle, Local Democracy Reporter

Plans to turn a farm into a watersports activity centre are on hold after the applicants criticised a planning inspectors’ assessment of their proposal.

Members or Wrexham County Borough Council’s Planning Committee will conduct a site visit to the Christmas Farm in Cefn-y-Bedd to clarify whether a proposed pedestrian crossing on Llay Road is truly safe.

The move follows criticism levelled at inspectors from Planning and Environment Decisions Wales (PEDW) by the agents working on the development who said the safety assessment of the pedestrian crossing was wrong.

The Christmas Farm owner Clint Shaw lost an appeal in December 2024 to transform the site into a year-round water-based activity centre offering paddle boarding and similar water related activities.

His plans also proposed enhancing the Christmas Farm aspect of the site, adding a reindeer centre and a reindeer hospital complete with maternity unit.

The scheme was dismissed at appeal over phosphorous issues connected with toilets and waste water and pedestrian safety due to the positioning of a crossing at a point where drivers would not see it until the last minute.

A new application has now been submitted. Included in the documents is a fresh Design and Access Statement from Goodwin Planning Services which states that the planning inspector’s assessment of the peddestrian crossing’s safety was completely wrong.

During the appeal PEDW stated that on the proposed crossing: “Pedestrians would be out of the close eyeline of motorists approaching from the west until moments before reaching the crossing point.”

Goodwin’s report states, however:  “As set out in the Highways Technical Note, this conclusion is demonstrably incorrect and the only apparent explanation is that the Inspector stood in the wrong place when assessing the crossing at her unaccompanied site visit.

“The Axis Highways Technical Note goes to considerable lengths in terms of the various evidence sources (including plans, photographs and long section drawings) used to show that oncoming cars would be visible and any pedestrians would be visible at the crossing point around the entire alignment of the road.”

The claim drew an angry defence of the planning inspector from Llay Cllr Brian Apsley.

“The conclusion that they (the agents) alleged was incorrect was that pedestrians would be out of the eyeline of motorists approaching from the west until moments before they’re reaching the crossing point,” he said.

“If you read the minutes of the appeal, the inspector states what she saw when standing at the front edge of the footway at the intending crossing. I would suggest to you that that’s not the wrong position.

“I think they tarnished their credibility and the inspector’s credibility.”

Fellow Llay Cllr Rob Walsh was supportive of the application however – laying the responsibility for the road’s safety at the feet of the authority.

“The highways down that road remains an issue, but that is an issue for us as a local authority,” he said. “Whether we have a Christmas farm or no Christmas farm, highway issues, pedestrian issues remain an issue.

“I’d like to think going forward that having this development here will speed up any future mitigations to improve pedestrian safety and improve highways.

“I think that this will be met with great excitement if approved. So I do hope that it is approved.”

With uncertainty over safety however, councillors elected to carry out a site visit to assess for themselves whether the crossing point is safe or not – agreeing to pause decision making until that visit had occurred.