A WREXHAM councillor has said it is "utterly bonkers" that councillors could face jail if they fail to adopt the Local Development Plan (LDP).

The LDP is a requirement of local authorities by the Welsh Government to make land available for development. Wrexham’s proposed plan was drafted to allocate sites where around 8,000 homes and major developments could be built in the county borough.

It went out to public consultation five years ago before being examined and tweaked by the government and independent inspectors who deemed the plan sound to adopt earlier this year. 

It has twice been rejected by Wrexham's councillors, and the council has faced a legal challenge by a consortium of developers. Following a Judicial Review last month, an extraordinary meeting of Wrexham Council will take place next Wednesday (December 20) whereby the LDP will again be decided on.

Wrexham Council's chief legal officer has said that councillors could conceivably face a jail sentence if they fail to adopt it. 

In an email to Plaid Cymru councillor, Carrie Harper, Linda Roberts said: "The judge can find the council in contempt of court if it disobeys a court order. As individual councillor votes will be available (presuming there is a recorded vote) then the court could make an order against those individuals.

"If the court finds a defendant in contempt of court, the court may impose a period of imprisonment, a fine, confiscation of assets or other punishment permitted by law." ‌​‌‌​​​‌‍‌​‌​‌‌‌​‍‌​​​‌​‌‌‍‌​​​‌‌​‌‍‌​​‌‌‌‌​‍‌​​‌‌‌​​‍‌​​‌​‌​​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​​‌‌​‌​‍‌​​‌‌‌​​‍‌‌​​‌‌​‌‍‌‌​​‌‌

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Cllr Harper said: "It's utterly bonkers to be faced with a situation that could result in a jail sentence for doing our jobs and representing people. If we vote against this development plan, which we know people locally don't want, we could face prison, a fine, or the seizure of our assets.

"It's thoroughly undemocratic. Even in the face of all this, I could never in good conscience vote for something knowing it will damage my community, so I won't vote for this plan. There needs to be accountability for all this. The whole plan is based on Welsh Labour's population projections, which we now know were wildly over inflated.

"These houses, which will be mainly three and four bed executive houses, aren't needed as the population is static and due to decline. The bulk of the houses also aren't affordable for the vast majority locally and will put huge pressure on local infrastructure and services."

She added: "Of course, developers are set to make hundreds of millions by building on our green fields but there is no benefit to our communities. The Welsh Labour Government could have done the right thing and intervened, they were asked to intervene but have refused. They don't want to be accountable. The bottom line is that we all know whose development plan this really is."