There's a sense that Rhuthun/Ruthin is rehearsing its arguments regarding the proposed Clwyd Alyn affordable housing at Glasdir. Rehearsing its arguments, for example, in the wake of the mass expansion of housing that the next local development plan might bring.
And if you believe the article in September's Town & Around, published at the end of August, there's likely to be a significant expansion in housing in town and in the surrounding villages. In Rhuthun itself, the Civic Association reckons upward of 650 to 880 additional homes, be they flats or houses. What impact will this have?
First, it will continue to support local businesses. Structural changes in society will inevitably result in reduced town centre footfall, for example, and more people living locally will (presumably) help to mitigate the worst effects of such things as the impact of online shopping on our fragile town centre. More houses will help support other businesses, from carpet and furniture sales to decorating products to engineers and builders.
Secondly, the new Clwyd Alyn development promised at Glasdir together with up to 70 houses at Llys Famau and perhaps as many at the former Rhos Street schools site will offer much needed affordable housing. Politicians are all up in arms about Clwyd Alyn's proposals but historically they have all pledged to offer more affordable homes. Clwyd Alyn's development isn't social housing. It's for people who have an income but cannot step onto the property ladder. Isn't this sort of thing exactly what our young people need?
Thirdly, politicians echo a general view that there isn't a demand for such housing. The waiting list has just 20 people on it, some say. Clwyd Alyn and Tai Teg reckon differently. They believe there are more than 500, when you combine all known lists. Shouldn't we be supporting the needs of younger families or older people for example needing bungalows?
Fourthly, our infrastructure isn't right for expansion. Schools are nearly full, we're told. But are they? The LEA reckons that two classes in one of the three Rhuthun primaries is at capacity and that, overall, there is scope to educate more. Between the three developments, there may be 50-60 additional learners spread between three primaries and the LEA sees this as acceptable. And, Ysgol Brynhyfryd is still under-capacity, in spite of an invasion over the years by pupils of disaffected Dinbych parents and from elsewhere. Doctors and dentists may present a problem but we do have an opportunity to increase capacity when Mount Street moves to the hospital. And if doctors and dentists were such a constraint on development, then Rhuthun currently would likely be no bigger than it was in the 1930s. It's an incremental process.
We need to watch exactly where we build and the number of new properties we are building, that's for sure. Nothing should threaten the best of our market town. But it seems to me that Glasdir is the ideal place to develop at present: it's just about within walking distance of town and it abuts an existing development. There'll be a supermarket around the corner and new and existing employment land is nearby. Indeed, building there gives the existing market housing at Glasdir some sort of cohesiveness with the town, for an estate that otherwise simply appears to have been plonked in the middle of nowhere.
First, it will continue to support local businesses. Structural changes in society will inevitably result in reduced town centre footfall, for example, and more people living locally will (presumably) help to mitigate the worst effects of such things as the impact of online shopping on our fragile town centre. More houses will help support other businesses, from carpet and furniture sales to decorating products to engineers and builders.
Secondly, the new Clwyd Alyn development promised at Glasdir together with up to 70 houses at Llys Famau and perhaps as many at the former Rhos Street schools site will offer much needed affordable housing. Politicians are all up in arms about Clwyd Alyn's proposals but historically they have all pledged to offer more affordable homes. Clwyd Alyn's development isn't social housing. It's for people who have an income but cannot step onto the property ladder. Isn't this sort of thing exactly what our young people need?
Thirdly, politicians echo a general view that there isn't a demand for such housing. The waiting list has just 20 people on it, some say. Clwyd Alyn and Tai Teg reckon differently. They believe there are more than 500, when you combine all known lists. Shouldn't we be supporting the needs of younger families or older people for example needing bungalows?
Fourthly, our infrastructure isn't right for expansion. Schools are nearly full, we're told. But are they? The LEA reckons that two classes in one of the three Rhuthun primaries is at capacity and that, overall, there is scope to educate more. Between the three developments, there may be 50-60 additional learners spread between three primaries and the LEA sees this as acceptable. And, Ysgol Brynhyfryd is still under-capacity, in spite of an invasion over the years by pupils of disaffected Dinbych parents and from elsewhere. Doctors and dentists may present a problem but we do have an opportunity to increase capacity when Mount Street moves to the hospital. And if doctors and dentists were such a constraint on development, then Rhuthun currently would likely be no bigger than it was in the 1930s. It's an incremental process.
We need to watch exactly where we build and the number of new properties we are building, that's for sure. Nothing should threaten the best of our market town. But it seems to me that Glasdir is the ideal place to develop at present: it's just about within walking distance of town and it abuts an existing development. There'll be a supermarket around the corner and new and existing employment land is nearby. Indeed, building there gives the existing market housing at Glasdir some sort of cohesiveness with the town, for an estate that otherwise simply appears to have been plonked in the middle of nowhere.
Tags:
Housing