A £17M project to build a new superstore and business park creating up to 4,200 jobs looks set for rejection next week.
Supermarket giant Sainsbury’s and developer Liberty Properties want to construct the business park on 57 acres of agricultural land on the Wynnstay Estate at Ruabon, close to the A483 Ruabon-Newbridge bypass.
Phase one of the scheme would involve the building of a new 33,000 sq ft, 200-job Sainsbury’s food store and office village creating 300 jobs.
Two subsequent phases would see the construction of more than 400,000 sq ft of business buildings providing enough space to accommodate firms creating 3,500 jobs.
Emyr Williams, Liberty Properties development director, said that if planning consent is granted the first phase of the development could be completed within 12 months.
“Our proposals for Ruabon Business Park are aimed at rejuvenating the local economy, providing new jobs and opportunities for the people of Ruabon and South Wrexham, and would see a considerable financial investment into the area at a time of economic difficulty not only in Wales but right across the UK and beyond,”Mr Williams told the Daily Post yesterday.
“This is an example of private sector investment opening up an important business park for major job creation, bearing in mind that there are no Welsh Assembly Government or local authority monies available. What the people of South Wrexham require is job opportunities and we must seize the moment, otherwise this opportunity will be lost forever.”
The plans were backed by Professor Dylan Jones-Evans, director of research and innovation at University of Wales, who said the £17m development could help give North Wales an advantage in regaining ground in the early stages of an economic recovery.
“At a time when the economy is going through the deepest recession for more than 60 years, a major project such as this one, which will bring nearly half a million square feet of employment space and more than 4,000 jobs over the next decade, should be welcomed,” he said.
“More importantly, it will give north east Wales a major competitive advantage when the economy begins to recover and help to create real employment job opportunities across the region.”
Prof Jones-Evans, added that the proposed office and business space could act as a magnet to attract major inward investment projects from blue chip companies and help local firms.
The proposals won a measure of support in Ruabon, but some businesses in adjoining villages such as Chirk and Cefn Mawr were worried the new food store would take trade away from them.
Other objections received by Wrexham council, whose planning committee will consider the issue on Monday, refer to the loss of countryside and the fact that there are already many empty retail properties in Wrexham as a result of the credit crunch.
Council planning chiefs say the proposal is contrary to policies in the Unitary Development Plan and are recommending that outline planning permission for the scheme be refused.
They say the site is in open countryside outside any settlement boundary, the proposal fails to satisfactorily argue the need for a new retail site, and traffic from the development would clog the local roads and create potential danger to road users.
A report to be considered by councillors also says the development would not “revitalise the district centre of Ruabon”. Instead, it would harm the vitality and viability of existing centres.
