THE gates of a derelict hospital site have been opened as its long-awaited redevelopment is soon to begin - but at a cost to its historic buildings.

The Free Press was invited for a tour around the North Wales Hospital site by Denbighshire County Council (DCC) ahead the redevelopment, more than 20 years after it closed.

DCC says it is working with Ruthin-based company Jones Bros to save as many of the historic buildings as possible and use the 35-acre site for a housing development.

It was able to take over the site through a Compulsory Purchase Order this year.

The Grade II listed building opened as an asylum for the treatment of mental illnesses in 1848.

Over the years, it was home to thousands of patients and hundreds of staff, becoming a self-contained community with a farm.

Since it closed in 1995, the site has fallen into disrepair with several fires started deliberately and causing extensive damage to the buildings.

Council leaders now hope that as much of the facade as possible can be saved and redevelopment will give an economic boost to the area.

However, it is expected that 50 per cent of the listed buildings will be lost during the redevelopment.

Speaking at the site, Hugh Evans, leader of DCC, said: “We have signed a development agreement with a local company, and the intention is that a planning application will be going in to start making the place look busy.

“I believe there is going to be a training centre and a bit more construction work happening.

“The long-term intention is to have a strong housing development. With that, there will be enablement funding to invest in the buildings to bring them back to their past glory.

“It’s really important that this development is linked to the town of Denbigh and that local people feel they are part of it.”

Jones Bros are carrying out work to save the buildings from any further damage and are expected to submit a planning application for a housing development on the site.

Graham Boase, DCC’s corporate director for the economy and public realm, said: “In order to save the building, what we’re going to have to do is have some new build around the back of the site, so that will generate jobs.

“But we want this to become a destination in its own right so there is an opportunity for investment here. When it’s built, it will generate its own wealth.

“It would be reasonable to expect that a significant amount of the buildings could go.

“The main building we want to save is the most historic building at the front.

“You are going to lose about 50 per cent of the listed buildings on site. It’s just simply not viable to save them all. The most important thing is to save the most important buildings.

“It’s a beautiful building and I think it can become a destination in its own right where people will want to come and see a building of this beauty that has been restored.”