Wakefield stadium plans take step forward

Correspondent

Plans for a new community stadium for Wakefield adjacent to junction 30 off the M62 at Newmarket have taken another step forward.

Sir Rodney Walker, Chairman of the Wakefield and District Community Trust has written to local sport and leisure organisations in Wakefield inviting them to give their views on the exciting new planned development.

Working alongside various other parties, including the Wakefield MDC and developers Yorkcourt Properties, the Community Trust propose to deliver a new sporting and leisure facility for the district, at the heart of which will be a purpose built 12,000 capacity stadium.

A Super League club have in principal agreed to use the proposed new stadium and the Trust is looking to extend the use of the state of the art facilities to as many organisations as possible.

The proposed development has the aim of making top quality sport and leisure facilities available to the public of Wakefield, and with considerable support already behind the proposal the Trust is confident that the future for sport in Wakefield is a bright one.

Part of the letter read: “We are writing to you, on behalf of the trust, to seek your views and to ask you to consider offering your support, in principal, for our plans to create a new sporting/leisure village and whether you might have an interest in discussing with us the facilities you would wish to see included which might also be benefit to your organisation.

“In these difficult economic times, if we are to succeed in our plans, we will need to demonstrate to funding sources that our proposals offer both value for money and widespread support for the proposed facilities.”

Wakefield were one of five clubs to receive a warning letter from the RFL regarding their stadium facilities, and a new stadium is key to their application for a Super League licence beyond 2012.