I know that some give Wakefield a hard time on this board and much of that is born out of the fact that Belle Vue is, I totally agree, the worst ground in Super League (although they have the best playing surface!!!). However, it is now difficult to argue that in terms of their on-field performances since franchising that they did not deserve their place and they proved their doubters wrong. But what about the next franchise period if they don't get a decent ground?

They have played their cards quite close to their chest since the Thornes Park stadium scheme (quite rightly) fell through, unlike others. On Saturday they announced their plans at public consultation event in Stanley in Wakefield. I went along for mainly professional reasons but also as a fan of the game and someone who does want to see Wakefield and their fans get the ground that they deserve. Well I was expecting a bit of half-baked scheme with no real time scale and something that was maybe just designed to keep the RFL happy so they can be seen to be progressing in time for the next franchise period. How wrong was I!

This is a well conceived overall development scheme and backed by a developer (Yorkcourt) who is in the scheme for the long-hall and is Wakefield based. The actual old Newmarket Colliery site is huge and it is this that ultimately the developer is interested in. The 'deal' (which I understand is agreed in principal) looks to be very favourable for all parties, Wakefield get a major financial contribution to build there new ground from the developer, Wakefield council get several thousand new jobs available locally and Yorkcourt makes money. The ground, community sports facilities (grass and all weather training pitches) and it's 800 parking spaces is probably only 15% to 20% of the overall site and the rest of the site is made up (currently) of a mix of large distribution to small distribution and industrial units, a new hotel and the obligatory fast-food outlet! They developer did tell me that as they were looking at a ten year development plan for the full site to be completed, they might include some office space in future but at the moment this was the best plan for the site.

They have a proposed time-scale and the developer has the money and as such they just need the planning process to go their way to get started. Those of you that know planning, the site is currently labelled 'green-belt' in the UDP and as such, even if Wakefield Council give it permission it could still get called in by the Secretary of State. That said, I think Wakefield will give it permission, because it is a well thought out scheme and would you turn down the potential for 3000+ local jobs and finally solving the issue of getting Wakefield and the community a new sport stadium for clearly a 'deal' on the land that is not going to cost them or the council tax payer anything in real terms.

If planning goes according to plan they hope to be on site late in the first quarter of 2010 to start the muck-shift and build the new road with the new ground the first structure to be built (clearly Wakefield council will make this a condition of planning and it looks to have already been agreed as part of the deal) and will start on-site in late 2010. The plan is to have the ground fully completed by late 2011 and they did say the plan was to have it's grand-opening as part of a 'festive' fixture with the ground being in full use from the beginning of the 2012 Super League season.

The ground will have an initial capacity of 12,000 with the option to go to 18,000 with an add on structure. The West and East stands (along the touch lines) will be all-seater with both North and South stands (at the ends) standing.

I see (as part of my real job) lots of these scheme and many are a little pie-in-the-sky but I have to say that I was impressed with how well thought out the scheme was and more importantly the developer is looking at a long term return plan for a huge site.

I genuinely do hope the government don't throw a spanner in the works by calling it in but even then I suspect it would just delay things unless they radically asked for the plans to be changed (made smaller really) or rejected it outright.

I would be more than happy to be playing Wakey at their new ground on Boxing Day 2011 and hope that if they do get it done in time, most Rhinos fans (and GH) would feel the same.

Interesting stuff. I would be good to see Wakey get a new ground, it would be a real shame for them to miss out on a franchise because of the state of Belle Vue, they seem to have put a decent team together.

Im sure getting a new ground would give a good boost to attendences for Wakey too, I think Warrington's crowds have improved a lot since they moved to the HJ.

The difference being that Warrington's new ground is actually in Warrington proper, not miles away.
I wish them well but it really is "out of town".

I was pleased that the Thornes Park scheme was dropped as there are plenty of other places in/around Wakefield that could be used.
The old power station site needs to be cleaned-up and re-used at some point and I would have thought that a new ground there would have been perfect.
But that would require joined-up thinking.

If one of the 1st games is to be the Boxing Day game on 2011 or even 12' I'll definitely go since it will then be the nearest SL ground to where I live.
It will have excellent access to the M62 for away fans but will be a major trek for all home fans, probably nearer for Cas & Fev fan(s).
I wonder what the blokes who park on the layby just off the Rothwell junction will think about the increased traffic.

I hope wakey get their new ground, another team that has built from the lower divisions the right way

I also hope they dont need any money from the council, arent they like bradford "we knocked down the town centre and we have no money to build a a new one"

not sure moving "out of town" will be too much trouble, the impression i get is most people take the bus or car to belle vue anyway

Few pictures of the proposed stadium, which i think looks very goodhttp://www.wakefieldwildcats.co.uk/images/siteplan_page_1.jpg" >



Hopefully they will get the ground and the club stays in Super League. Looks very modern, alike to Liegh/Warrington. I assume the added Capacity that can be done is by adding the corners in.

Few more pictures from Wakefield Forumhttp://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh62/snowie_photos/DSC00065.jpg" >

You speak some negative rubbish.

Yes, it is out of town, but Belle Vue was not exactly in the town centre, it was still a good 3/4 mile from the edge of town and Kirkgate station well over a mile from Westgate and bus stations. It is also positioned on one of Wakefield's busiest and narrow arterial roads and the bottle-neck caused at Chantry Bridge means it is a nightmare getting to Belle Vue from most parts of Wakefield north of the river. The new ground is closer for people who live in north Wakefield and the three larger suburbs of Stanley, Outwood & Wrenthrope and almost the same distance from Eastmoor as Belle Vue. I suspect that it will be nearer and certainly easier for a larger proportion of current Wakefield residents than Belle Vue currently is.

The old power station site, great idea... NOT! Firstly, who owns that site? Will Wakey have to pay for it? Also, you have exactly the same problem as you have with the Belle Vue, given it is only 1/2 mile further up the road, with the bottle-neck of Chantry Bridge and you now add in the other bottle-neck of the railway bridge just along Doncaster Road! So, do they build a new ring road which would mean a new bridge over the river at Eastmoor or widen Chantry Bridge and build a new railway bridge? Who will pay for that as well!

So picking a site that they have been given, free, gratis, by the council, close to the M62 with access off a dual carriageway with a new purpose built road for the ground and the wider development, paid for by the developer not Wakey or the council, lots of space for parking (800 at the ground itself) a park and ride scheme from the city centre to the ground and the other way during the week for people working in Wakefield... that is not joined up thinking then???

Is this potentially going to be a joint ground with Cas or just for Wakefield? Either way good luck to them and hope it goes through ok. It seems the RFL's threats about stadium standards has worked to some degree!

It looks excellent and I've got a vague picture in my head about where Newmarket colliery was, but to be more precise is it just off the Leeds Rd near the bridge over the M62 ?

I hope it goes ahead without any problems because it certainly seems to tick a lot of boxes.

They have spoke to Castleford and Castleford have rejected the chance, they are now in talks with Featherstone about playing a few of their games at the ground.

Hopefully this will come good because in all fairness the success of their RL teams since JK took over has been getting better and better and as someone else mentioned the playing surface at BV is top quality and hopefully they'll achieve the same at the new ground.

Yes, brings capacity up to 15k and not 18k as I said in my original post. Apparently the Community Foundation would like to find the money to build in the corners straight away, but they do have to find the extra money themselves and the current deal means that they will have the money now, if planning is granted, to build the 12k option straight away.

To answer the other post, the council are not putting any money in at all as such. They have given the Community Foundation the land for nothing and suspect that the deal with the developer is that the council will sell them the land at a reduced market value and then that money is then given by the developer to part fund the stadium.

It is slightly further along near J30 and it is just off Aberford Road, which is the road that links Oulton/Rothwell with Stanley over the M62.

In terms of problems, the issue is planning, but it has to be for the whole development to complete the funding. If they get planning and it does not get called in, they will start on site in April, with the ground itself starting in late 2010.

Got it now - christ those pits took up a lot of room didn't they