Draft Wrexham Heritage Strategy 2018 - 2028

Draft Wrexham Heritage Strategy 2018 - 2028

Why are we doing this?: 

Our heritage is a ‘finite and irreplaceable resource’ it represents the sum of our and our ancestors shared experience; it provides both a sense of self and of community, understanding it provides lessons for the present and for the future. Heritage is also a significant economic driver, in Wales the sector supports close to 40,000 jobs, generates £749m and is twice the size, for example, of the agricultural sector. Heritage in turn is a major factor in the success of North Wales as a visitor destination, being judged recently by Lonely Planet as the World’s 4th best place to visit.

Wrexham published its last Heritage Strategy in 2005, that strategy established a vision for our shared heritage to ‘Enable the full potential of our heritage to flourish, so that it can make the maximum possible contribution and enrich all aspects of life in the County Borough, for the benefit of local residents and visitors alike’, and saw the establishment of the Wrexham Heritage Forum, an umbrella organisation to represent all of our community based heritage groups, since incorporated into the North East Wales Heritage Forum.

Since the last strategy was published, the ‘age of austerity’ has led to unprecedented cut backs in public spending, which have impacted on non-statutory services like heritage. In Wrexham, we have seen the closure to the public of museums at Minera, Bersham Ironworks and Bersham Heritage Centre and even consideration given to the potential for heritage services to be transferred away from local authority control.

Given this context we are developing a new heritage strategy for Wrexham.  This new strategy, Making Connections, seeks to encourage a heritage sector that is both resilient and sustainable by seeking a more joined up approach. The ultimate objective is to create a heritage sector that effectively utilises heritage as both a tool for economic regeneration and for engagement, but at its core aims to better conserve and interpret what we have. 

What do we want to know?: 

We are seeking feedback on the draft Wrexham Heritage Strategy for 2018 to 2028. In particular people's views on the reccommendations set out in the strategy: 

Do you agree with the reccommendations set out in the strategy?

Do you think there is anything missing that the strategy should cover?

Do you think there is anything included that should be removed from the strategy?

Is there anything else you think needs to change about the strategy?

To feedback you can take part in the online survey. 

Alternatively please send your comments to Steve Grenter, Heritage & Archives Lead:

Email - steve.grenter@wrexham.gov.uk.

Postal address - Wrexham Museum, Regent Street, Wrexham, LL11 1RB steve.grenter@wrexham.gov.uk.

 

What we found out: 

The Heritage Strategy was agreed by the Executive Board in November. The public consultation in September and October yielded 31 responses.  This showed strong support for the main recommendations with between 90 and 97% of respondents either agreeing or strongly agreeing with them. Respondents were also given an opportunity to comment on the draft text. Examples of comments received included, for example, the inclusion of women’s history; the need for town centre interpretation; that the strategy was vague and not particularly inspirational. With the exception of the latter comment we agreed with most of the comments made although none actually required a material change to the draft strategy and as they were either explicitly or implicitly already covered by the draft.

Consultation start date 17 September 2018
Consultation end date 15 October 2018