'Toxic tour' of Wrexham

The women will visit a landfill site

A tour to highlight the environmental hazards of north east Wales has been put on for women living in the area.

Members of the Women's Environmental Network took the idea of a 'toxic tour' from women in America.

The tour bus will take the passengers around Wrexham to point out the everyday hazards in the town.

But the organisers have denied that they are scaremongering about the health risks of living in Wrexham and say the tour could be taken anywhere in Wales.

The purpose of the tour is not to say Wrexham is a toxic tip

Janet Williams, Campaign for the Protection of Rural Wales

Janet Williams from the Campaign for the Protection of Rural Wales said: "The tour is a campaign tool which was developed by women breast cancer activists in San Francisco.

"They developed it primarily to take health professionals and civic leaders around sites they felt were having an impact on their health.

"The purpose of the tour is not to say Wrexham is a toxic tip.

"The sites are sites that can be found in any county throughout Wales."

One of the deepest landfill sites in Europe is on the tour along with the Wrexham Industrial Estate.

There are a number of factories based on the park and there are additional plans to build a £25m waste recovery centre.

Mrs Williams said the council's development plan stipulates that all heavy industry should be based on the Industrial Estate.

Hazards

"A lot of people would say that it's a good thing that all the industry is concentrated in one area," she said.

"Others may feel that creates a bigger environmental impact in one area.

"The Wrexham Industrial Estate actually adjoins farmland and open countryside.

"Very often this type of development doesn't become an issue until it's on your own backyard."

The group targets women because research shows women are the primary consumers in society and they make a lot of decisions in the home.

The tour will be followed by an afternoon of workshops exploring the impact of environmental and occupational hazards.