More than a 100 turn out for Rhyl Maes Emlyn public meeting

Tempers flared and voices were raised at the packed public meeting at Rhyl Youth Centre on East Parade on Monday, July 3 over Denbighshire County Council’s proposed Maes Emlyn development.

The project involves transforming former older persons’ flats [as well as the former warden’s accommodation and community rooms] into temporary emergency accommodation for 24 individuals in Denbighshire] who are experiencing homelessness. Flats 35-59 will be used.

Graham Boase, chief executive of the council, led the meeting (Image: Newsquest)

There will be a range of on-site support services / wrap-around care 24/7 365 days a week. The multidisciplinary team will include mental health practitioners.

The project is being supported by the Salvation Army who will be onsite. CCTV is proposed for the grounds and there will be a ‘Premier Inn’ type reception area to manage people going in and out. 

The idea behind the scheme is to help people - who have presented to the council as homeless and have a connection to Denbighshire - eventually move into permanent accommodation and to free up hotels and B&Bs, that are being used to house homeless people, for “tourism”.

A total of “24 single units” are proposed that will cater for people aged between 18 and 55 with a range of high and medium needs.

The longer-term plan is to demolish and redevelop the site into houses.

Denbighshire's Nigel Jones outlines the benefits of the scheme (Image: Newsquest)

Graham Boase, chief executive of Denbighshire Council, said: “People moving out of these guest houses and hotels will be a priority to move into Maes Emlyn, if Maes Emlyn goes ahead.”

Residents, however, voiced concerns that Maes Emlyn “is not the right location” for the scheme and is “not fit for purpose”.

The council admitted the building was coming to the end of its life and “five years could be squeezed out."

There were also concerns about anti-social behaviour, drugs, homes going down in value as a result of the development and whether the "freed-up" B&Bs and hotels would be used by other local authorities to house homeless people.

Residents also asked what kind of people would be housed and what action would be taken if there were "troublemakers".

One resident said: “As a young woman, it is not a nice place to live anymore. There is spitting, needles on the floor. You have got to get this right otherwise it will have a huge impact.”

Another said the site was currently "a magnet" for teenagers and drug dealers.

A landlord takes the leader and chief executive to task (Image: Newsquest)

They said: "Kids go over the fence and drug dealing goes on in there."

One mum feared for her children safety.

"I won't be able to let my children walk to the bottom of the road if this goes ahead," she said.

Ann Lloyd, head of Adult Social Care and Homelessness Service at Denbighshire, said: "We are doing out best to do early prevention work. We are doing a lot of work to stop people from becoming homeless. 

"Landlords are leaving the rental market.

"We have no control how many people present themselves as homeless.

"We have got a statutory responsibility."

Mr Boase said he and the officers hadn’t anticipated how many people would turn out for Monday’s meeting; More than 100 people came.

One attendee accused officers of "underestimating people's feelings" while another said officers were giving "vague answers".

Another man shouted out: “You're not bloody answering [the questions], you are just fluffing around.”

Another person voiced anger that no costings had been presented. 

"No financial figures feels negligent," he said. 

People were also convinced that a decision had already made on Maes Emlyn.

Many said they had seen work going on at the site and skips outside.

One person demanded to see the property "with his own eyes" so he could see what work had been carried out. 

Denbighshire officers replied that it was "gas supply works and stripping out works".

All officers, Mr Boase and Denbighshire Leader, cllr Jason McLellan, kept re-iterating that nothing had been decided.

Mr McLellan said: "I know the area well. No decision have been made.

"The service has to be good and have very good wrap-around care otherwise you run the risk of it being a ghetto.

"If I could wave a magic wand, I would build more affordable council houses.

"No decision has been made"

People were worried that the building was deemed "not fit for purpose" less than two years ago and elderly people moved out. 

Liz Grieve, Head of Housing and Communities Service at Denbighshire, said: "The housing scheme was coming to the end of its useful life.

"They [the elderly people] were a close knit community."

A lot of the residents moved to The Grange Apartments, built and run by Wales & West Housing.

Ms Grieve said: "The move was not to do with Maes Emlyn [proposals].

"We can squeeze out five years. Maes Emlyn is available for a short period of time.

"It takes time to demolish."

Attendees complained about the lack of notice given for the event; the Journal was only informed of the meeting on Thursday, June 29.

Mr Boase said: "It is a really difficult job for us. We don't want to come here and cause upset in our communities.

"If it is not Maes Emlyn, those people still will be in B&Bs and holiday accommodation in Rhyl."

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An application for the proposal was submitted last year. It was then withdrawn by the council last December. 

Mr Dixson said it was "too confusing" for residents as a consultation was also running.  

Cllr Justine Evans, of Rhyl East ward, said: "We want to see the homeless situation addressed but I'm not convinced Maes Emlyn is the right location at all."

A spokesperson for Denbighshire County Council said: "Denbighshire County Council was pleased that so many people were able to attend the meeting about the proposed developments for Maes Emlyn on Monday evening, and the Council feels that everyone had an opportunity to ask questions or make comments.

"Nothing has been decided as yet and, if Cabinet supports the proposals, then we expect to submit a planning application for the scheme in September.

"Anyone who was unable to attend the meeting, but would like to ask the Council a question about the proposals for the Maes Emlyn site is welcome to do so via an online form which is available through the following website links until July 10: English: countyconversation.denbighshire.gov.uk/project/704 or Cymraeg: countyconversation.denbighshire.gov.uk/projectcy/704

"To tackle the homelessness issues in the county, Denbighshire County Council is proposing to use Maes Emlyn as a temporary homeless accommodation for up to five years while the Council works on supplying permanent homes for those people affected.

"Welsh Government’s vision is for homelessness to be rare, brief, and unrepeated, and to achieve this, the Council’s rapid re-housing plan aims to intervene early to arrange move-on accommodation to those facing homelessness and to get them into Council run temporary accommodation as soon as possible.

"The long-term plan is to redevelop Maes Emlyn for new social homes of mixed sized accommodation to help meet the need for housing for various family sizes.  The expectation is that, within five years, the need for temporary accommodation will be much reduced, and as a result will be manageable with the use of existing social housing stock.

"The Salvation Army will be manning Maes Emlyn 24/7, and they have significant experience in running similar successful support schemes throughout the UK. 

"The benefits to this proposal will be better quality accommodation for people experiencing homelessness in Denbighshire; easier access to support services, and improvements for the wider community as the site will be managed 24/7.

"In addition, hotels and B&Bs can be returned to tourism use."