Rhostyllen.com

The housing and communities pressure group Cymuned has called on the National Assembly to respond to comments made by Sir William Proby, chairman of the National Trust, who believes that the Trust should defend green spaces against developers. At the same time, the Trust in Wales is pushing on with unpopular plans to get planning permission for 223 houses on green spaces by the village of Rhostyllen, in Wrexham, where a local campaign has been formed at www.Rhostyllen.com to fight against the proposals.‘It looks as though the Trust wants to prevent development in England at the same times as making a profit out of the housing crisis in Wales,’ says Carrie Harper, Cymuned’s representative in Rhostyllen, ‘and we believe that this is immoral and unfair to Wales. We are asking the Assembly to call on the Trust for a statement that they will defend the green spaces of Wales every bit as passionately as they do in England.’

Members of Cymuned and the Rhostyllen Residents Committee today welcomed ‘Sir William Proby’ to a protest in Wrecsam town centre against the National Trust’s plans to build 223 houses on Erddig land by Rhostyllen (see www.Rhostyllen.com). Last week, Sir William, chairman of the National Trust, said that he wanted to see the Trust buying land in order to prevent development on green and open spaces. On Saturday, a mannequin temporarily represented Sir William to show that his point of view is strongly against the proposed development in Rhostyllen. Campaigners collected 400 signitures from local people who were keen to show their opposition to the Trust’s plans. These will be added to the hundreds of signitures collected on line and also others collected during the course of the campaign.

‘We believe that Sir William is absolutely right to warn against over-development,’ says Carrie Harper, Cymuned’s representative in Rhostyllen, ‘and although he hasn’t yet responded to our request for a meeting, we are confident that he would be very supportive of what we’re trying to protect in Rhostyllen. With luck, maybe the real Sir William will come with us next time!’

The Trust is seeking planning permission to build 223 houses in order to be able to sell the land for a higher price to a private developer, and raise money towards an endowment fund for the Erddig estate. They claim that there was no original endowment fund – but they sold 63 acres of Erddig land for almost £1 million in the 70s. They have not yet revealed where that significant fund disappeared to.

Tara Green, secretary of the Rhostyllen Residents Committee, said ‘The Trust has got 1 billion in investments– why can’t they give a tiny amount of that to set up a new fund for Erddig, instead of forcing our small community to pay the price because they wasted the original fund?’

‘Not on Erddig’ campaigners believe that the National Trust must choose between profiteering in Rhostyllen or speaking out against over-development. If they attempt both, it will be impossible for anyone to take them seriously.

The Dragons Eye programme on BBC Wales last night put the spotlight on the National Trust’s plans for development at its Erddig estate in Wrecsam.

Iwan Hughes, the Trust’s representitive struggled to give any valid explanation for the Trust’s plans. He commented that the Trust very rarely sells off its own land, with 99% of it being inalienable and protected from development. When asked why the Trust were developing land at Erddig, he responded by saying that the situation is ‘different’ at Erddig. We are yet to learn why that is.

He was asked several times about the justification for the plans and commented that the land was included in Wrecsam Councils development plan. It would seem we will have to wait for an explantion as to why that means the National Trust must still go ahead with this ‘new village’.

Interestingly, the programme highlights the fact that the National trust has investments of 1 BILLION pounds. When asked why the Trust could not use money from its central funds if any were needed for Erddig, he responded by saying that ‘it’s different at Erddig’. He was also questioned about the recent statement from the Chairman of the National trust stating that the organisation will buy up greenfield land to protect it. When asked if the Trust’s behaviour at Erddig is contradictory to the views of his own chairman, Mr Hughes says that reports about this statement in the Times newspaper had been inaccurate. The Trust were not against all development as long it was ’sensitive’ development. It would seem that it’s fine to build housing on Greenfield as long as it is the National Trust who are making the money out if it.

 Surprisingly, our local AM for clwyd South, Karen Sinclair also made an appearance on the programme. She has refused to give any view to us previously on the subject , only to say ‘I feel it is inappropriate that I get involved in this matter’. Obviously she felt differently when it came to talking to the media. She appeared quite comfortable defending the Trust’s actions in Rhostyllen.

 The Dragons Eye programme can be viewed in full at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/culture/sites/politics/pages/dragons_eye.shtml

To see local news footage about the campaign, please visit:

http://www.itvlocal.com/wales/news/?player=WAL_News_26&void=113877  ( ignore the advert, the video will start after it!)

Campaigners in the North Wales town of Wrexham have reacted with amazement to the National Trust’s plans to buy up green field sites to stop them being developed. They have been fighting a plan by the National Trust to develop a commuter village of 223 houses on green field land near the village of Rhostyllen for the past 9 months. The fields are part of the Erddig estate, which was gifted to the National Trust to avoid development, and have been appreciated by generations of local people. The land in question is one of the last pieces of open green space in the village. 

Local campaigner Tara Green said “I am totally amazed after reading the statement by the National Trust. They have the nerve to tell us we must accept this development because they need the money, yet they now say they will buy up land to protect it out of their 350 million pound annual operating budget. It would seem they are not as short of cash as they have made out.” 

 The Trust’s chairman, Sir William Proby goes on to say that they are concerned in particular for the South East and East of England, the areas under most pressure for new building. In a direct attack on the Governments plans to build 3 million new homes by the end of the decade, he stated that the Trust will intervene in development even if the land is not directly associated with it, even going as far as to buy up land to protect it. He states that the Trust will not sit back and allow the desecration of green belt or other open green spaces, ‘once this land is gone, it is gone forever and there is no turning back’. Mr Proby states that there should be greater local consultation and that it is legitimate for local people to be concerned about their environment. They should have a chance for their voice to be heard. 

 Carrie Harper, local spokesperson for the campaign group Cymuned said “This statement from the National Trust is mind blowing; they are stating word for word the same concerns that we have put to them about their own development plans here in Wrexham. If they are true to their word, we eagerly await another statement from the National Trust announcing that plans for their new village development in Wrexham have been scrapped. In other circumstances we would welcome Mr Proby’s comments, but given the situation in Wrexham, how can we take this seriously? Mr Proby states his concerns for greater consultation, why then have the Trust themselves failed to consult local people here? He also states that local people’s voices should be heard, but the Trust have consistently ignored local opinion in Wrexham. The Trust say they are concerned for the South East and East of England, what about communities in Wales? Do we not deserve the same respect and protection?”

‘I can only assume that Mr Proby is unaware of the Trust’s development plans here in North Wales. We would be very interested in meeting him to discuss the situation. After reading his comments , he would be very welcome at any of our campaign meetings, he would appear to have exactly the same concerns as we do. He may also be interested in reading about our campaign at www.rhostyllen.com’.

The Not on Erddig campaign group state that they will be contacting Sir William Proby immediately to request a meeting about the National Trust’s development plans in Wrexham.

The following is a statement released from the National Trust today. This statement is absolutely mind blowing given the situation at Erddig. This is the link to Times article, why not pop in there and add a comment?

National Trust, you are forewarned. We are watching.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article2796808.ece

The National Trust is to put itself on a collision course with the Government over Gordon Brown’s plans to start the biggest house-building programme in 30 years.The trust, one of Britain’s largest landowners with 700 miles of coastline and 250,000 hectares of countryside, has threatened to buy up greenfield land earmarked for development to stop new housing. It is also preparing to intervene in planning inquiries and challenge new developments, even if it has no direct involvement with the land under threat.The Prime Minister has pledged to build three million new homes by the end of the next decade, with the annual housebuilding target to be increased to 240,000 homes a year. The last time that figure was reached was in 1979, when council houses were still being built.But in a direct attack on the Government, the National Trust has accused ministers of destroying vital green spaces by pressing ahead with housebuilding, airport expansion and new industrial sites. It has already shown itself a determined opponent of the Government over the plans to expand Stansted airport, which it claims will destroy the tranquillity and oasis of Hatfield Forest — which it owns. The Trust was represented at the recent planning inquiry.The trust is exasperated because ministers and senior civil servants appear ready to develop green fields without considering the quality of life offered to local communities by the presence of open spaces.In his speech today Sir William will say: “Inch by inch, year by year, the redeeming, restorative qualities [of the countryside] are being eroded. We are not against progress. But the sheer scale of what is being contemplated goes way beyond this.”In an interview with The Times Sir William made clear that if necessary the trust – which has an annual income of £350 million – would buy up land or development rights on land to save green fields.Another ploy may be to encourage property owners to covenant land to the trust so that it can take on responsibility for protection of these sites.“In the planning process I am not sure the value of the spiritual side and the beauty of landscape and its importance on the quality of life rather than the financial gain is taken into account,” he said. “It should do that. But I feel the process is being driven by economic arguments from a top-down planning process.”