2021 seems such a long way off, especially as few people plan beyond a five-year horizon. In 2021, where will you be and what will you be doing? For 2021 is the time frame for Denbighshire’s Local Development Plan.The Rhuthun leg of the LDP consultation culminates with an exhibition on Saturday in the Llanfwrog Community Centre, between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Consultees then have November to submit their views. Locally, it’s already toured Y Gyffylliog, Betws Gwerfil Goch, Clawddnewydd, Llandyrnog, Llandegla and Rhuthun County Hall itself.
The LDP consultation is quite user-friendly. The document is available from the Library on a CD. The printed version is colourful, has a readable font and at 127 pages in English (curiously, only 113 in Welsh), is a featherweight compared to some previous interations.
For example, compare this to the former Glyndŵr district council’s previous tomes. Picking one at random, my 1986 document runs to 297 pages in a tiny font, for a smaller land area—at a cost of £5 that equates to about £12 today, a cost that might stifle consultation.What does the LDP do? It considers the council’s spatial objectives to address the coming decade’s challenges. They include building sustainable communities, planning for population growth, sustainable employment and sustainable accessibility.
It therefore identifies Rhuthun/Ruthin as a rural service centre & primary settlement offering a range of facilities. A priority for Rhuthun is to strengthen its economy while reducing the need for travel. This means more local housing and local employment. Of note is the current lack of serviceable employment land. Yet, the LDP also recognises that Rhuthun lies within the Chester sub-region.
Join us over the next couple of days as we take a closer look at Rhuthun, surrounding villages & the LDP. In the meantime, it’s worth noting the underpinning themes for other Denbighshire towns. The LDP looks towards repositioning Y Rhyl & Prestatyn within the regional tourist market, while re-establishing Rhyl as an attractive retail centre. And it concentrates much of the county’s new housing & employment at the single “key development site” of Bodelwyddan. Those already living there are unhappy. Dispassionately, though, with its links to employment, services, a hospital and the A55, Bodelwyddan seems ideally placed for major expansion and this is recognised in the Wales spatial plan.