What makes a community? What ingredients come together to form the bond that makes a strong, sustainable and positive environment in which we all can thrive? We all want an environment in which we feel safe, secure and have a genuine connection with those around us. In the modern era of commercialism and globalisation this type of living environment is becoming increasingly rare. Many people have never even experienced such a place.

Communities are built through a shared experience, the various aspects of our daily lives that are intrinsically linked with the people around us. It is our shared identity, our culture, heritage and language that bind people together to form strong communities. This is a delicate balance, but one which can accommodate both inward and outward natural migration and still thrive. As long as the links are in place, it can grow, develop and happily adapt to the changes that inevitably come over time.

Imagine being part of such a community. It is surely something we would all strive for. A safe and familiar place for us to live and bring up our children, something to be proud of and to protect.

But what happens if the essential links of identity and culture are broken? What if the balance within your community suddenly changes, and you experience a mass influx of people who do not speak your language, do not share your identity and have a significant financial advantage over you? Your community begins to break up; it cannot integrate so many new people all at once. Before you know it, you are a minority in your own community; you have very little say about what happens. Imagine how you would feel at becoming a minority culture; your way of life being changed beyond all recognition. The community in which you were brought up is being replaced, you are being replaced. Now imagine this happening across your entire country

Cymuned, meaning ‘community’ in English, is a communities pressure group born in the heartlands of the Fro Cymraeg (Welsh-speaking Wales). The group, based in Gwynedd, began in 2001. Its aim was to give a voice to Welsh-speaking communities being threatened by an ever-increasing number of holiday homes and a lack of local housing. With the use of the language currently down to 20% on a national level, these communities are still facing a massive threat to their very existence.

Non-Welsh-speakers with a financial advantage over local people are moving into these areas in increasing numbers. Almost all (over 90%) refuse to learn the language, and due to their significant numbers, the linguistic balance within the community very often shifts to English, thus threatening the very existence of Welsh as a living community language. In other areas across the country, Welsh identity is also under threat; especially in non-Welsh-speaking communities.

Wrecsam also was once part of the Fro Cymraeg. It was a Welsh-speaking area not so very long ago. Due to the influx of so many English speakers over the years, the language is no longer in use in everyday life in many of the villages in which it used to thrive. The sense of Welsh identity, however, is very much still alive, although it is under increasing threat because of the amount of speculative development taking place across the area. Local people are being priced out of the housing market and many people feel that the sense of community that once used to exist in the area is fast disappearing. The local council in Wrecsam seem hell bent on city status, and at the same time they ignore the needs of the very people they are supposed to represent. This has led to an increasing amount of people in the area wanting to do something practical to safeguard the future of their communities. Cymuned offers local people a voice, and a way to challenge the decisions that are being made – decisions that are bringing our communities in Wales to their knees.

Cymuned is not against natural migration. It is of benefit to communities to welcome in those from different backgrounds and cultures. Neither are we against development; but what we want to see is development that benefits local people.

What is happening across Wales at the moment is an unusual level of lifestyle-motivated migration. The very dynamics of our communities are being changed so dramatically and at such a pace that it is impossible to integrate the numbers of people moving to our towns and villages. What we are campaigning for is equality; we want to protect our identity, language and culture. We want to be able to afford to live in the communities in which we have lived for generations. If local people continue to be forced out of their own communities on the scale which is happening now, our very identity as Welsh people will disappear.

We are calling on councils across Wales to adopt a policy of no new build except for local need. There are enough properties in the current housing market to supply the wants of those wishing to move to our towns and villages. What we need now is balance – a chance for our communities to recover from some of the dramatic changes that have taken place.

You can help us protect areas in Wrecsam from speculative development. We are currently campaigning with local people against plans by the National Trust to build 223 houses opposite the Welsh village of Rhostyllen. As is the norm, local people will not be able to afford the houses. Rhostyllen is one of the places that we have been describing here. It is still a close knit community, a place where people know each other, and it has a strong sense of shared identity. You can sign the petition against the development at www.rhostyllen.com.

If you are want to do something help us protect Cymru, you can contact us at cymuned@cymuned.org. If you have moved to our country, you have probably done so to enjoy our culture, our heritage and our communities! Help us to protect them for future generations to enjoy – don’t let them become lifeless suburbs for commuters. Get in touch with us and help us to make a difference

It is the ORDINARY voices of ORDINARY people that are not being heard – if they were, we wouldn’t be in the mess we are, because what’s missing is common sense, unaffected by the various temptations that developers try to feed everyone.

If you’ve got an opinion, you can make yourself heard right here, by filling in the comments box at the bottom of this page – whatever you’ve got to say, as long as it isn’t promoting hatred, we will publish.

What’s more, if we’re impressed, we’ll get in touch with you and see if we can help spread your opinion to a wider audience…:-)

There has been a lot of talk lately about the Local Development Plan (LDP) for Wrecsam. Over the last 15 years, the council have been working under something called a UDP (Unitary Development Plan). This plan dictates the development boundary for the whole county and also which areas the council consider are appropriate for development. The time period for the UDP is coming to and end now, therefore, the council need a new development plan. The new plan will be the LDP and will dictate the development that the county will see for the next 15 years. It is slightly different to the UDP because it allows the council to build on land they would have been prevented from using under the old plan.

The council have supposedly been ‘consulting’ the whole county about this plan for the last year. No doubt you hadn’t even heard about it until recently though. We are aware that they have been putting the consultation notices up down back roads etc. For the last month, they have started putting up notices in all areas that are included in their new LDP. Over the last few weeks, communities across the county have been finding these planning notices. There has obviously been quite a backlash from a lot of villages who are opposed to their communities being developed.

So what happens next?

The council are now very close to moving to the Deposit Plan stage of the LDP. Once this part of the plan has been adopted, it CANNOT be changed by the council themselves. Any areas that have been included in this part of the plan are then open to development. Once sites have been included, communities will find it very dificult to challenge any development proposals.

What can you do if your village has been targeted for development?

OBJECT, and do so as quickly as possible. Challenge the council on their ‘consultation’ about the LDP. It has NOT been sufficient.

Put your concerns in writting and send them to the planning department. Until the 26th of November you can still ask to meet with someone from the planning department to discuss the LDP.

The LDP is currently in the ‘consulatation’ phase, although this will end on the 26th November 2007. After this date, the council WILL adopt the Deposit Plan.

If you have concerns about development plans in your area, feel free to contact us. The deposit plan will be reviewed by someone independant of the council before it is finalised. If we act quickly, there may still be options available to communities to challenge this plan before it is implemented.

If you would like to become involved with our work or would like to support us, you can get in touch with our head office on 01758-612712, or email cymuned[at]cymuned.org.

Aternatively, if you live in the Wrecsam area, you can contact our local representative on 07745-701860, or email carrie[at]killingWrexham.com.

We have been living in a building site for the last decade. Housing estates, luxury apartments, wine bars and shopping centres.

The council tell us that Wrexham is on the up. This is ‘regeneration’.

But lets just examine for a minute how all this development benefits local people.

Housing – Thousands of houses have been built across the county over the last decade. Thousands more have full planning permission. New villages, luxury aprtments, 3 story properties etc, all seem to be appearing everywhere. How many of these houses are for local people? Not ONE. Local people cannot afford the prices, they are all solely built for commuters and are even advertised with the commuting distance from Manchester, Liverpool etc. Add to this the lack of available acommodation to rent and the situation starts to look pretty dire.

So what about us? What is the local need for housing in Wrexham and what is being done about it? The council state that ‘we don’t know what the local housing need is’. What is being done? Nothing.

Traffic – Well, we have all noticed this one. A dramatic increase in traffic because of all the people moving here from outside the area. Add to this all the disruption caused by the continuing development and it adds up to our daily lives becoming a nightmare.

Shopping centres – how many is it now? Plas Coch, Island Green, Wrexham Brewery, Tesco retail park, Eagles meadow. That’s five – just how many shopping centres does one town need?

How many of these shopping centres are Welsh owned? Not ONE. They are all owned by English companies, and the money they make follows them straight back across the border. Our local businesses just can’t compete with these massive companies and are forced to close.

But they bring jobs don’t they? The question is, jobs for who? If you want to work behind a counter for low wages, then yes they do. They will certainly not provide you with enough of an income to get on the property ladder. The ones making the money are the managers of these stores. There are not many who are local. Go into these places and ask to speak to the manager – you will be very lucky to hear a local accent. If you’re not convinced, try it for yourself.

Wine bars – They are everywhere. The town centre on a Saturday night is like an obstacle course. The term ‘cattle market’ is consistently used by locals to describe our vibrant new cosmopolitan town centre. All designed to attract more people from outside the area to come here for a night out.
At the same time, the council have closed down the majority of ‘regulars’ pubs. The pubs that used to be the hub of the community where many of us used to regularly meet up with friends. The end result is that there is no choice left. If you don’t want run the gauntlet of Highstreet, there are very few other places to go.

The point is, there is no balance with any of the development in Wrexham. The majority of it certainly does not benefit local people. It could have done though, if the council had wanted to make a genuine effort to look after local people and put our needs first. Wrexham should have been ‘regenerated’ to benefit us.

The new village in Brymbo is a great example here. Money becomes available for the regeneration of a deprived area. What do the council do? Do they invest money into local housing and local businesses? No. They build a new village and put new people in it, leaving those most in need no better off than they were before. Unfortunately, this is by no means an isolated case.

So, there are no houses for us, the wages are poor and there is now even more competition for the lowest paid jobs with the addition of migrant workers.

As depressing as all this is, it gets worse. By far the worst effect of all this development is the destruction of our communities, our identity and our heritage. The very fabric that builds and sustains strong communities is being torn apart by a council hell bent on city status.

Development is good, when it benefits everyone.

Natural migration is good, it benefits a community to welcome in those from other places, backgrounds and cultures. However, what is happening here is way and above natural migration. We are now a minority in our own town.

Colonisation is wrong. Systematically wiping out an indigenous population and replacing it with another amounts to ethnocide. Local people are being forced out and priced out, we have no future in our own town.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

If you would like to become involved with our work or would like to support us, you can get in touch with our head office on 01758-612712, or email cymuned[at]cymuned.org.

Aternatively, if you live in the Wrecsam area, you can contact our local representative on 07745-701860, or email carrie[at]killingWrexham.com.

Wrecsam council’s general development principles state that ALL new developments must:

“Have regard to the need to safeguard those areas that possess a strong Welsh and/or linguistic identity from development that could harm this identity.”

The whole County of Wrecsam possesses a strong Welsh identity that is under threat because of all the ‘commuter’ estates that the council have given planning permission to.

They provide dramatically insufficient local housing policies and readily admit that they do not know what the need for local housing is in Wrecsam. The most recent statistics state that the use of the Welsh language in the area is down to 22% – no doubt it will decline yet further if the scale of development continues.

When will Wrecsam council implement the use of their principle of ‘identity’ into the planning process?

In fact, what evidence is there that Wrecsam have EVER referred to this principle with regards to ANY development in the county?

Why make a specific commitment and then take ZERO action?

If you would like to become involved with our work or would like to support us, you can get in touch with our head office on 01758-612712, or email cymuned[at]cymuned.org.

Aternatively, if you live in the Wrecsam area, you can contact our local representative on 07745-701860, or email carrie[at]killingWrexham.com.

NOT ON ERDDIG

A campaign to stop the National Trust building 223 houses on Erddig land opposite the village of Rhostyllen. This ‘new village’ will be purpose built for commuters, leaving the majority of local people unable to afford one of the properties. It will also destroy one of the last areas of open green space in the village . Yet another development that is not based on local need.

Please visit www.rhostyllen.com and help campaigners in their fight against the National Trust.

HAFOD QUARRY

Campaigning to stop five Liverpool councils (or anyone else, including Wrexham) dumping their waste in Hafod Quarry for the next generation. Landfilling at Hafod is not acceptable, the tip is right next to houses and MWH is relying on obsolete planning permission.

The campaign against the landfil site at Hafod Quarry began in 1988. Local resident of Ruabon, Pauline Smout started the massive campaign against Mersey Waste.

Residents have put up with another landfill site for years and they don’t want any more. This site is just 150m from houses and part of the site is an SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) / SAC (Special Area of Conservation) with a colony of great crested newts.

Mersey Waste Holdings Ltd, an arms length company of the five Merseyside local authorities Liverpool, Sefton, Knowsley, St Helen’s and Wirral, owns the site and is bringing unsorted waste from Merseyside into Wales to dump, thus exploiting a loophole in the English landfill reduction targets set by the government. If it comes to Wales, it doesn’t count.

Wrexham councillors were asked to revoke the outdated and unviable planning permission of 1995 at a Planning meeting on September 4th, but they chose to allow landfill to go ahead with just a few modifications to the permission.

There were cries of “shame!” and “disgrace!” from the public gallery in the council chamber, and a strong and angry mood from local people after the meeting.