Stadium boost for Super League club

A £12m plan has been announced to redevelop Wakefield Trinity Wildcats ground, Belle Vue, meaning the club will stay in it’s home city.

Wakefield council put forward the proposal to build on the site by 2020, leaving the club with a 10,000 seater stadium. The club has been faced with leaving the site where they have played since 1895

If approved, works could begin as early as September 2018. The site will also include retail and entertainment services which will surely attract modern fans.

Michael Carter, the owner of Wakefield Trinity RFL Club, had previously said: “Myself and Chris Brereton are happy, after some tense negotiations, that we have agreed in principle a future ground for Wakefield Trinity.”

The club have been campaigning to get Wakefield Council and developers ‘Yorkcourt’ to build a ground on the outskirts of the city.

Supporters have become more and more frustrated with the wait but it has emerged developers have applied for full planing permission. Meaning the council have a chance to come up with a new ‘Section 106 agreement’ that can be agreed on by all parties, leading to the stadium to finally undergo construction.

Jonathan Stone, Chairman of the Trust, commented: “We were resigning ourselves to the fact that the outline planning permission for the Newmarket Development was going to expire.

“The fact that Yorkcourt have applied for full planning for the remaining units on the site clearly means that they have already secured, or are very confident in securing, tenants for these units which at long last signals the imminent building of the much-needed Community Stadium and a new home for Super League’s Wakefield Trinity.”

Full planning permission was applied for just days before the outline planning permission was due to expire, which can only be positive for the Wakefield club.

With regulations in 2016 updating, leaving the club slightly behind the pace, this topic has been spoke about on several occasions, but the news comes as a boost for the club leading into 2018 pre-season preparations.

The added facilities will likely give the stadium a higher average attendance and more chance for media coverage. Both which will improve the quality of Wakefield’s finances.