Wakefield Club Trinity Stadium.

Client

Spirit 1873 Ltd

Size

2.4ha

Local Authority

Wakefield Metropolitan District Council

Sectors

Culture, Leisure, Sport and Tourism

Key Project Information

Wakefield Trinity, who compete in the English Super League, bought the freehold of the Mobile Rocket Stadium, Belle Vue, in March last year.
The application proposes the replacement of the existing east stand with a 2 storey stand which, as well as providing 2,562 seats, will include meeting rooms, offices, a café and fitness facilities for community use.
The proposals also include improvements to the car park, the provision of fan zones, the installation of an all-weather 4G pitch and an upgrade to the existing floodlights to the latest LED technology.
An estimated contribution to economic output (gross value added) of £14milion by the construction phase.
The cost of the works will be funded by a significant contribution from Newmarket Lane Ltd, a joint venture between Yorkcourt Developments and Henry Boot Plc, via a S106 contribution and other private funds facilitated by the Club’s shareholders.

This planning application is an important milestone in our journey to redevelop Belle Vue. The structure of the existing East Stand dates from 1924 and the new stand will provide first-class 21st century facilities for our spectators which are well overdue.

Most importantly however, this phase of our redevelopment plans will provide multi-functional community facilities including conferencing and banqueting space and a café. The 4G pitch will also be available for community use as well as providing an all year-round venue for our first and youth teams.

John Minards – Wakefield Trinity Chairman

The development will provide first class amenities for the wider community of Wakefield and for the many activities delivered through the Wakefield Trinity Community Foundation.

The plans include:

Construction of a new 2,500-seater East Stand to include a large hospitality/conferencing facility
Refurbishment the existing “Rollin Shack” to provide a multi-functional leisure space including a café and club retail facility
Renovation of the North Stand terracing providing an upgrade to spectator amenity in that part of the ground and an increase overall ground capacity
An upgrade of the existing floodlights to latest LED technology
Installation of a 4G pitch suitable for all weather use by both club and the community
Creation of landscaped car parking and a FanZone behind the new East Stand.
We provided planning advice, economics and environmental advice all to support the planning application for the development.

We prepared the planning application for the project on behalf of Spirit of 1873 Ltd – who own the ground.

The proposed development will generate significant socio-economic benefits during both the construction and operational phases of the scheme. During the build phase of the development, it will directly support temporary construction jobs on-site, and indirectly support jobs in the wider construction supply chain.

However, it is during the operational phase of the development proposal that the long-term socio-economic benefits arising from the scheme will be seen in the local the community. All sport, in this case at the elite level, has a significant role in retaining a sense of place and identity. Wakefield Trinity continues to be an incredibly important part of the community and its history and the proposed development shall deepens that sense of place and identity further.

Importantly, it promotes well-being, both physical as well as mental health and these proposals will bring about the ability for increased participation in physical activity, either by inspiring some to become more active having followed elite sport, or to simply to come and use the propose facilities that are proposed.

The economics benefits generated by the scheme include:

An estimated 100 on-site jobs supported during the construction phase, with a further 166 supported in the wider supply chain.
An estimated contribution to economic output (gross value added) of £14milion by the construction phase.
Safeguarding 12 full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs on-site, with an additional 2 permanent FTEs likely to be created once the Proposed Development is built and operational.
Providing new facilities, including a sports pitch and gym, that can be accessed by local residents. A total of 147,508 additional annual community use visits are forecast, of which 138,568 are estimated to be involved in physical activity. Increasing physical participation in Wakefield is a major issue, with inactivity costing the District an estimated £6.4million per annum.

Images courtesy of AFL Architects.