Wrexham council plan for school on Nine Acre Field opposed

Wrexham AFC currently uses the site as a training ground

A campaign has been launched to save a green field in Wrexham earmarked as the location for a new school.

Nine Acre Field is currently used as a training ground for Wrexham AFC and is also home to an amateur boxing club.

Wrexham council has defended its plans to build a primary school there, saying the site was not open to the public.

However, residents of Maesydre opposed to the development want the land to be turned into a park, claiming there is a shortage of green space in the area.

The council revealed last year that the football club was planning a new purpose-built training ground next to the former Groves School, freeing up land at Nine Acre Field for a school.

Local residents want to turn the site into a public park

Lynne Williams, a member of Acton Community Council, said residents would like to see it reopen to the public as a park with a play area, woodland and pond.

"Every town has a statutory duty to keep hold of green space and people have realised that if it goes then we will never get it back," she told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

"More and more people are thinking about where their kids are going to play.

"We all know the town is going to increase in size and the demand for green space is going to increase because of the population.

"Why do they look at every empty space and think it's developable?"

More than 100 people attended a campaign meeting at the weekend

Wrexham council previously tried to sell off part of the field for housing under a previous administration in 2004, but the move was dropped following a strong public backlash.

Following the u-turn, there was a dispute over access to the site as the authority placed locks on the gates.

A spokesman for the local authority stressed it was standing by its intentions to build a school there, adding: "The Nine Acre field is not a recreation space - it is currently closed to the public."