* A sketch-map of how the woodland area will be developed.
Plans have been revealed to transform an area of under-used
woodland near St John’s Church in Llangollen into a tranquil outdoor area to benefit
graveyard visitors and neighbouring residents.
The Green Space project is a joint initiative between the
Church in Wales, which owns the land, and members of the Tidy Town Team whose hard
work over a number of years has gradually been transforming the wooded site of around
1.5 acres to the point where it can be sympathetically redeveloped.
* John Gambles of the Valle Crucis Mission Area briefs residents on the project in front of what will become the access point to the woodland. On the left, is the priest-in-charge of St Collen's, Father Lee Taylor.
* Residents voice their concerns about the plan to John Gambles.
The plan is being overseen by the Valle Crucis Mission Area,
the body which co-ordinates the work of 15 parish churches in the Dee Valley
area, with cash from the Green Communities Project match- funded by St Collen’s
Church.
If all goes according to plan the new area should be in use
by next February.
People from the area were invited to a special on-site presentation
by the Mission Area’s John Gambles this morning (Friday).
Residents, mainly from nearby Green Lane, were able to voice
their concerns about the affect the scheme would have on their homes, a number
of which have already been aired on social media.
The blueprint basically means turning a triangular-shaped
piece of land between the river, the railway and the cemetery into what Mr
Gambles described as a “tranquil area where people can find peace with
themselves ... where they can sit, relax and contemplate.”
* The existing parking area will be extended for visitors to the graveyard.
Also included in the scheme is extending the existed limited
car parking area for graveyard visitors by the removal of a privet hedge and the planting of a line of
ornamental trees to screen it from the consecrated land set aside for the
extension of the burial area, the creation of a small wildflower meadow plus the
fixing of posts and chestnut palings along the rider side of the site.
Mr Gambles said that a range of specialist advice had been
taken on which trees within the main woodland area should be removed or saved.
There had also been expert consultation of the form the revamped
woodland area would take which has meant provision for a small access point
from the existing parking area leading onto a walkway – wide enough to take
wheelchairs - winding of about 110 metres through the trees to a quiet area
with simple oak benches.
The plan had been mooted for some time and over the past
seven years the Tidy Town Team had done a large of amount of clearing and tidying
of the site.
Residents who attended the presentation raised a number of
points of concern, including possible anti-social behaviour caused by the opening
up of the area – with some pointing out that this was already a problem with
alcohol bottles and other rubbish being left strewn about.
There were also fears expressed about extra traffic using nearby
Green Lane during the construction period by contractors and how the area would
be managed in the long term.
Mr Gambles said that although the budget for the scheme didn’t
include provision for its future management, the use of CCTV could be
discussed, adding: “We will try to encourage responsible behaviour and we are
already working with the police and the schools. A lot of it is up to us a
community.”
Addressing residents’ traffic concerns, he stressed that an
agreement had been reached with the adjacent railway to use the pathway between
its yard and St John’s Church for contractors’ vehicles.
There were questions for Mr Gambles about the level of
consultation there had been on the project.
He said that people most affected by it in the area had been
consulted as had the Town Council which had agreed with the proposals.
However, he did not rule out further consultation measures
including, possibly, the setting up of a Friends of St John’s group to liaise
with and update residents as the project progressed.
He stressed that the newly-created area was not intended to
be part of the town’s general tourist offering but by people visiting relatives’
graves in the cemetery and by residents themselves.
