THE plan to bring cable cars to Cefn Mawr is in jeopardy if existing council plans go ahead, an action group has said.
The Plas Kynaston Canal (PKC) group hope to regenerate the area by creating a new tourist centre at Weigh Bridge Gate on Queen Street, followed by a £3million, 1,000 feet long cable car system between the centre and The Crane.
However, the group says Wrexham Council’s plan to spend £100,000 extending and refurbishing the nearby Trevor Basin tourist information centre, less than a mile away, is in direct conflict with their plans and ignores the needs of Cefn Mawr and its surrounding villages.
Banyon Properties has now lodged objections to the council’s plan, which is to be considered on January 3.
PKC organiser and director of Banyon Properties Dave Metcalfe said: “The communities of Cefn Mawr and surrounding villages are not mentioned here.
“These communities are only half-a-mile away and our current economies are dying through lack of trade. This planning application will only succeed in worsening this economic and unnecessary disparity between the two areas if approved.”
He claimed the extended Trevor Basin centre may take business away from local traders and that the PKC centre was designed not to have that effect.
He also claimed the PKC group’s proposals would raise the tourist count from 200,000 to 500,000 per year.
“However to achieve this, the right course of action needs to be followed and this planning application is not conducive towards this and therefore we have to raise objection.”
Other objections included increased traffic for the Trevor Basin centre being routed through a residential housing estate.
Wrexham Council planning officers have recommended permission be granted subject to a number of conditions being met.
In the report to the planning committee Lawrence Isted, the authority’s head of community wellbeing and development, said the proposed scheme would represent a “modest extension” to the existing building and provide improved visitor facilities.
He added: “The works respect the status of the site, will not impinge on nearby residential amenity and given the restricted retail element will not compete or impact on existing nearby retail outlets.
“Increased visitor use of the site will be likely to benefit local communities generally in time.
“The Highways Department is satisfied that vehicle movements will not materially change to the detriment of the local highway network.”
A planning application for the PKC group’s visitor centre at the existing Weigh Bridge Gate car park will be submitted in January.
Mr Isted said in his report any alternative scheme would be considered independently and on its own merits to the Trevor Basin extension application.