The housing and communities pressure group Cymuned has called on the National Assembly to respond to comments made by Sir William Proby, chairman of the National Trust, who believes that the Trust should defend green spaces against developers. At the same time, the Trust in Wales is pushing on with unpopular plans to get planning permission for 223 houses on green spaces by the village of Rhostyllen, in Wrexham, where a local campaign has been formed at www.Rhostyllen.com to fight against the proposals.

‘It looks as though the Trust wants to prevent development in England at the same times as making a profit out of the housing crisis in Wales,’ says Carrie Harper, Cymuned’s representative in Rhostyllen, ‘and we believe that this is immoral and unfair to Wales. We are asking the Assembly to call on the Trust for a statement that they will defend the green spaces of Wales every bit as passionately as they do in England.’

The Trust is seeking planning permission to build 223 houses in order to be able to sell the land for a higher price to a private developer, and raise money towards an endowment fund for the Erddig estate. They claim that there was no original endowment fund – but they sold 63 acres of Erddig land for almost £1 million in the 70s. They have not yet revealed where that significant fund disappeared to.

Tara Green, Rhostyllen Residents Committee secretary, says, ‘Rhostyllen is proud to be part of Wales, and it isn’t fair for us to have to accept large scale developments like this, which aren’t for local need at all, while places similar to Rhostyllen in England get defended. We don’t want to see our village turned into a playground for wealthy people who don’t even come from Rhostyllen.’

Members of Cymuned and the Rhostyllen Residents Committee will be welcoming ‘Sir William Proby’ to a protest in Wrecsam town centre on Saturday (10/11/07) at 2.00pm against the National Trust’s plans to build 223 houses on Erddig land by Rhostyllen (see www.Rhostyllen.com). Last week, Sir William, chairman of the National Trust, said that he wanted to see the Trust buying land in order to prevent development on green and open spaces. On Saturday, a mannequin will be temporarily representing Sir William to show that his point of view is strongly against the proposed development in Rhostyllen.

‘We believe that Sir William is absolutely right to warn against over-development,’ says Carrie Harper, Cymuned’s representative in Rhostyllen, ‘and although he hasn’t yet responded to our request for a meeting, we are confident that he would be very supportive of what we’re trying to protect in Rhostyllen. With luck, maybe the real Sir William will come with us next time!’

The Trust is seeking planning permission to build 223 houses in order to be able to sell the land for a higher price to a private developer, and raise money towards an endowment fund for the Erddig estate. They claim that there was no original endowment fund – but they sold 63 acres of Erddig land for almost £1 million in the 70s. They have not yet revealed where that significant fund disappeared to.

Tara Green, secretary of the Rhostyllen Residents Committee, said ‘The Trust has got £900 million in the bank – why can’t they give a tiny amount of that to set up a new fund for Erddig, instead of forcing our small community to pay the price because they wasted the original fund?’

‘Not on Erddig’ campaigners believe that the National Trust must choose between profiteering in Rhostyllen or speaking out against over-development. If they attempt both, it will be impossible for anyone to take them seriously.

Communities and housing group Cymuned (www.cymuned.net) have today invited Sir William Proby, chairman of the National Trust, to join the campaign against the National Trust’s request for planning permission to build 223 houses on greenbelt land at Rhostyllen near Wrexham in the north of Wales (see www.Rhostyllen.com). Sir William announced on Saturday that the National Trust intends to buy more greenbelt land to protect it from developers; but in Wales, the Trust has ignored appeals for it not to build on one of the last pieces of open green space in Rhostyllen.

‘We believe that Sir William is an honourable man who is right to warn against the dangers of over-development,’ said Carrie Harper, Cymuned’s representative in Rhostyllen, ‘and we believe that he will be shocked and disappointed when he learns what is being done by the National Trust in Rhostyllen. We are offering him an invitation to join our campaign against this blatant destruction of the greenbelt, and we would be very happy to meet him in order to draw to his attention what looks dangerously like an example of profiteering.’

Representatives of the National Trust in Wales have claimed that the Rhostyllen development is needed to make up for the lack of an endowment fund for the Erddig estate – but 63 acres of land were sold in the 1970s to make an endowment fund of almost £1m, and it is not clear where that money has gone.

Tara Green, secretary of the Rhostyllen Residents Committee, said “The National Trust has an investment fund of nearly £900 million, yet they expect our small community to put up with a large, intrusive development because they need the extra money. But then they say they can afford to buy up more greenbelt land to protect it from developers!”

‘Not on Erddig’ campaigners believe that the National Trust must choose between profiteering in Rhostyllen or speaking out against over-development. If they attempt both, it will be impossible for anyone to take them seriously.

For more details, please contact Cymuned on 01758-612712.

Notes to editors:

Sir William Proby’s statements can be seen at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7076256.stm

Private Eye challenged the disappearance of the £1m endowment fund in edition 1193 (14th – 27th of September 2007)