COMMUNITY councillors in a Wrexham village have welcomed comments made by a supermarket chain hoping to build a new store in the area.

Bryan Apsley and Rob Walsh, community councillors for Llay, said confirmation by Aldi that they would only start building the new store on land on the corner of the Straight Mile and Gresford Road, once the outstanding concerns with the Crown crossroads were addressed, was the only real contentious issue about the project.

The supermarket submitted a planning application to Wrexham council last month and following a period of public consultation in June, said that while more than 70 percent of responders supported the proposals, they recognised concerns about the impact the store would have on traffic in the area. In response to those concerns, Aldi have since made significant changes to their original plan, including an additional left only turn from the Straight Mile, which they say will reduce customer traffic at the crossroads by up to 20 percent.

Cllr Apsley said that both he and Cllr Walsh met with Aldi on August 5, with the plans explained to them in some detail.

He said: "Aldi's highway consultant explained the theory of the left entry from the Straight Mile and the suggested up to 20 percent reduction in traffic.

"I am not a traffic or highway engineer but we pointed out to them that the reduction would be on entry but all cars would have to exit off Gresford Road and that is a major concern to residents who have had hell for months from the 362 houses development and that is likely to continue for months ahead.

"They are adamant that no building work will take place until the Crown crossroads improvements have been completed but the fear in resident's minds is that was what they were told by the housing developers."

Cllr Apsley went on to say that he fully supports the fact the multi-million pound investment would bring up to 40 well-paid new jobs to the village, and act as a much needed boon to the standard of facilities on offer to local residents.

He said: "As an ex trade union Full-Time Officer, I am all for the good and well-paid jobs that this development would bring as I know they pay well above the industry rate.

"I am of the view that Llay needs better stores as we are in the bottom league compared to other villages in the Borough. However, I am concerned about the infrastructure as a whole and our roads are very poor considering that we have a large industrial estate and a big Police Station running off the Crown crossroads.

"I'm not knocking Aldi because they seem to be a very professional outfit, but the overall picture of Llay at the moment is not good and we still have to fight to have a sensible Local Development Plan in place.

"If we don't fight that then we are left with a village of holes in the ground, a coal tip that has been a blight on the landscape since 1966, a gravel quarry that is supposedly vital to mineral resources but was on the agenda for shutting in 1976, a large reduction in open space and an infrastructure that is way behind good standards in Wales."

Cllr Rob Walsh added: "I am in the process of listening to every opinion I can and I look forward to this being discussed at the Llay Community Council meeting on Wednesday, September 18.

"It does seem that the Crown crossroads is the only real major contentious issue surrounding this application."