COUNCILLORS in Llay are bracing themselves for months of traffic chaos following the announcement of a road closure as part of a controversial new housing development.

At their monthly meeting on Wednesday, the community council discussed the plans to close Gresford Road (B5373) to allow for the installation of a new foul and surface water drainage system for the 365 housing scheme at Home Farm.

The road will be closed between Gegin Lane and Pentre Lane from April 22 for about 16 weeks and access will be maintained for residents and deliveries during the works with diversion signs in place for all other traffic.

Cllr Dennis Owen said communication about the proposal with local residents had been non-existent and the plan, when added to the decision to use Gresford Road for the main site access and the proposed upgrade of the Crown crossroads, would cause significant problems.

He said: "This is just phase one, with phase two likely to take another ten weeks, so it's going to be closed for quite some time for through traffic, which is going to put a lot of pressure on the other roads in the area.

"This will make the existing problem with the crossroads even worse because the traffic will have to come up via Rossett or instead, use the likes of Pentre Street to get in and out of Llay."

Cllr Owen accused planning officers at Wrexham council of ignoring the advice of their own Highways department when ruling out a recommendation for all construction traffic to use an entrance on the Straight Mile instead.

He added: "Developers have been given permission to use an entrance off the Gresford Road for the duration of the development works, which means it's in front of peoples houses and in front of the caravan park.

"Can you imagine all that traffic coming down through the crossroads and on to Gresford Road? It's ludicrous."

Cllr Owen said another problem he has is the lack of transparency and that the residents of Llay should have been consulted about the plans, including the potential impact it will have on local businesses.

He said: “What concerns me is that they haven’t told the residents. I was speaking to a lady who runs a dog grooming business and she said the closure is seriously going to affect her business because people won’t be able to get there.”

Cllr Rob Walsh agreed that communication on the issue had been poor from all parties, particularly the developers (Bellway and Anwyl Homes) and has called for a coherent plan to be put in place, particularly in relation to the proposal to upgrade the Crown crossroads.

He said: "We're facing the prospect of work going on at the crossroads, the closure of Gresford Road and the construction traffic coming in and out of the building site, all at the same time and that's why we need a plan put in place now.

"It's disappointing that after all the controversy, it seems that developers are just doing what they want. I thought they might have been a bit more thoughtful in their approach.

"I've put a lot of questions into the developers and the council and I've asked David Williams (Planning Control Manager) to stop the development until a decision is made on the Crown crossroads."