A PUBLIC meeting is set to be held following concerns over a large housing development in a village.

A consultation was launched last week over proposals for 42 new homes off Vicarage Lane in Gresford.

But county councillor Andrew Atkinson has voiced his opposition to the development, which has been put forward by Wrexham-based company Gower Homes, because of traffic issues.

He has now arranged a meeting to be held next month at the Gresford Trust Memorial Hall for residents to share their views.

The meeting was also originally planned to consider proposals for eight new homes on Old Wrexham Road.

Although Cllr Atkinson said he had since become aware that those plans had been withdrawn, he is still encouraging residents from that street to attend because of its close proximity to Vicarage Lane.

He said: “The residents meeting regarding Vicarage Lane and Old Wrexham Road planning applications is 7.45pm on Monday, September 3, at Gresford Trust Memorial Hall.

“Please note, although anyone from Gresford or Marford who is interested is welcome to attend, it is predominantly a residents meeting for those two roads and priority will be given to those residents to air their views.

“I’ll do my best to make sure everyone gets to ask the questions they want but I must make sure those residents don’t miss the opportunity to ask questions and share their views.

“I will be extending an invitation to the developers to attend part of the meeting.”

In a planning statement,Gower Homes said its proposed development on green barrier land off V icarage Lane will be worth £7.5 million and create new construction jobs.

The company has launched a consultation asking residents for their feedback on the proposals, which include 10 affordable homes.

But Cllr Atkinson has previously questioned the impact on local health services after Alyn Family Doctors put forward proposals to shut their surgery at Gresford Health Centre.

Cllr Atkinson said: “When I look at planning applications I always think about mitigation and how things could be improved if the development were to go ahead.

“The plans do include affordable housing which I welcome but I centre my concerns around highways, green barrier land and our current infrastructure issues, which include Alyn Family Doctors.”

Gower said the affordable homes would be the first built in the village since around the 1950s and are needed to address the demand in the area.

The company added that traffic calming measures would be introduced on Vicarage Lane to alleviate the current problems.

In their statement, Gower managers said: “The principle of developing green barrier for residential use is not something that is generally supported unless very special circumstances can be demonstrated, however, in this instance we consider that we have presented a strong justification for this parcel to be developed for the purposes proposed by this application.”