A tree preservation order could signal the death knell for Wrexham Magistrates' Court.
Since the adjacent police station closed, the Magistrates' Court no longer has access to custody facilities. Custody cases are now being dealt 12 miles away at Mold Justice Centre, which has sufficient cell accommodation for the job.
For several years, as a quick Google search will testify, there have been plans to build new cells at Wrexham Magistrates' Court.
Her Majesty's Court and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) has submitted a planning application to that effect, but progress has stalled as a result of established trees occupying the proposed development site. Wrexham County Borough Council wishes to protect those trees by making a tree preservation order.
Wrexham MP Ian Lucas said: "There is an urgent need for a custody suite to be built at Wrexham Magistrates' Court and I am hugely disappointed by the time it is taking to sort this out.
"The various issues involved – including tree protection orders – should have been resolved long ago by Wrexham Council and HM Courts and Tribunals Service, when I warned about the implications of relocating the police station.
"The court is an important civic and commercial facility in the town. We do not want to lose it.
"Wrexham Council and HM Courts and Tribunals Service must make it an urgent priority to work through any difficulties and deliver this long-overdue project so we can return to having a fully-functioning court service in Wrexham."
HMCTS has raised objections to the tree preservation order via its property agent GVA, but Wrexham Council seems reluctant to budge on the issue.
Lawrence Isted, Wrexham Council's Head of Environment and Planning, said: "The concerns expressed by GVA with regards to the trees as a material constraint to development should be addressed by the council during the determination of any such planning application rather than through the confirmation process of a tree preservation order, which simply seeks to discuss and make permanent a tree preservation order and nothing more.
"The amenity value provided by the individual tree as well as the trees as a collective unit is significant in the fact that the prominence and visibility of the trees provides a sense of place and identity to Wrexham town centre.
"Additional benefits in protecting these trees goes beyond that of amenity with the trees themselves reaching an age range whereby they now provide the maximum environmental and ecological returns to the community; benefits and services which may be considered priceless in terms of climate mitigation alone.
"It is the officer's considered opinion that the tree preservation order for 'Law Courts and Police Headquarters, Bodhyfryd, Wrexham' should be confirmed without modification."
The tree preservation order was debated by the council's planning committee on 4th March 2019. The committee voted to approve the tree preservation order, despite warnings that Wrexham could lose its Magistrates' Court as a result.
Councillor Mike Morris, chair of the committee, said: "We're not stopping a custody suite - what we are doing is safeguarding the trees."
Given the relatively short distance from Wrexham to Mold, HMCTS may well decide that it is easier to permanently list custody cases at Mold Justice Centre.
There will be no need for a daily remand court at Wrexham Magistrates' Court which, like so many others, will probably be left as an outpost to deal with non-custodial traffic offences and trials.
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