News & Views from Glasdir

George Wimpey Homes has appointed a salesman to kick-start its Glasdir development. His job isn’t just to sell houses, it’s to foster links with the Rhuthun community. Bridges need building. And further afield, he will be selling the virtues of Rhuthun and Glasdir in Chester and on the Wirral & Liverpool, for example.

Which all goes to suggest that Wimpey has its eye fixed on England now that the housing market’s tighter. Subjective view but locals were always less likely to buy at Glasdir, although some of the part exchange offers on its four and five bed properties do seem enticing. And the flats are relatively cheap.

Glasdir is rated as excellent in terms of its continuing impact on the environment. It would therefore be a little ironic if it filled up with commuters returning daily to Chester and Merseyside for work. Any carbon savings at Glasdir would be more than offset in exhaust emissions.

If many of its phase one 178 units pass to people who’ve moved, for example, from Merseyside, what effect might this have on Rhuthun’s culture and community? I’m thinking specifically of Ysgol Brynhyfryd, which in egalitarian fashion delivers its public face bilingually. It’s conceivable that there may be 200-250 plus new pupils, or up to 20 per cent per cent of the existing roll, all of whom will be monoglot English.

One significant issue that may prove off-putting to locals is the blocks of flats at the entrance to Glasdir. Thy act like patrolling sentinels and they must overlook and over-shadow all else. It’s conceivable that Glasdir won’t therefore need a *formal* neighbourhood watch scheme.