Me and 4 mates were up for it till that word bingo came into it.

So for the people who aren't interested in bingo or comedians just facts about our stadium when is the information that was going to be announced tonight going to be made public

Right, here is what I would have probably said tonight had it gone ahead.

A real shame, just because it would have been great to meet many of you personally under such positive circumstances.



We don't know what the Methley Residents are doing regarding an 'appeal', just some ramblings on twitter from one guy who lives at Methley Junction & wasn't previously that involved with things! There is only way of truly appealing anything is to ask the High Court to consider a judicial review, but they will have to have good grounds and then they would need to have something fundamental to alter the outcome of two costly public inquiries... I don't think they have anything other than restating previous issues and I don't think they would get anywhere at all and it would cost them quite a bit of money, just to get to an initial hearing... which they would surely lose. You have to prove to a judge you have a case before actually being granted leave for a judicial review!

They are clearly going to ask the SoS office for an independent internal review of the processes and a double check that everything was done as it should have been done... because this is free! I think this is what he is referring to when they say 'appeal' but this is not an appeal of the decision, just the process used to reach a decision. I think this will turn up nothing and they are just left with a very costly option of High Court which they would be plain dumb to throw money at, unless you really have it to spare!



Pitfalls, good god, where to start... potentially lots (as with all large projects, not this one in particular) but hopefully very few. I having being telling people what I would have said tonight, once the decision is finalised from the SoS then you will start to hear more detail and information released. Nobody is keeping anything from anybody as such, but equally we have to respect the commercial confidence of Yorkcourt, their investors and potential end user clients. When they have something they feel confident about becoming publicly available, they will tell us, until then they won't and that is just business. Interesting that some posters on another forum seem to using this, among a whole host of other things, to clearly indicate that something underhand and devious is going on. However, these same posters seem quite happy that Opus are telling them nothing about the potential sale and development of WR and this is of course perfectly normal... which it is, so they are right about something!



I personally haven't said a great deal about the 106 until now because, believe it or not, it wasn't that critical to the outcome of a minded to approve decision or getting us to this stage. That is probably also one of the reasons that it was not completed earlier. I suspect, having been here before with 106 agreements, that Yorkcourt, like most developers, want to hold onto this final card as long as practicable to them. Lets be clear, the 106 is the document that binds them, their partners and investors to a legal agreement to deliver something, in this case a large part of the stadium funding. The document was agreed in principal and I doubt it will change much from what was agreed as the public hearings. Equally, the 106 is the absolute, so they HAVE to do what its says, but equally we have been assured by Yorkcourt that their ambition is to do things much earlier than the 106 will ultimately compel them to do and also, this relies on the Sir Rodney and the Trust board fulfilling their bit of the deal, so to speak.

You don't spend all this money, as Yorkcourt have to date, without knowing the end game and also to fall at the last hurdle. They will be lots of paper going backwards and forwards between them, the SoS office, Wakefield MDC and all their lawyers as we speak. They still have a good month and we understand that they will be submitting everything the SoS wants by the deadline.

Don't forget, that is what we want them to do as well, again posters on another forum keep telling everyone this is a negative thing... it isn't, it is the opposite and these things need to be put in place so everything happens as promised. We have no reasons to doubt it won't!



Sir Rodney is another guy, like Colin, who only says something when he has something worth saying and reporting. Sir Rodney has responded to e-mails and pretty much says just that, lets get the final decision and in the meantime he will go away and now start and sort out the identified funding streams so has something concrete to report. He will tell us all something when he has something worth saying. He is first class at this stuff and we should give him the time to get on with it now he has the first green-light he needed.

What is the true state of play regarding Yorkcourt need to sell and build the B8 prior to the stadium build? Has any actually been sold yet?

60,000 sq m is what was agreed and I don't expect that to change. But remember, this is the absolute, if funding and his investors allow, which he hopes they will, and Sir Rodney & Wakefield do their bits, this will come much earlier.

How will the requirement for an archaeological dig on the site impact the build time?

Normally it doesn't effect anything. I had a similar situation on a large site in Newark. If they find anything, which on this site I doubt, but we did at Newark, then it just means getting foundation plans and floor levels agreed so the possible archaeological levels are not disturbed or disruption is minimised. Unless they find something of national importance and then they convince someone to part with a massive amount of money to fund digging it all up, then it stays insitu for future generations to worry about digging up... if they too think it is worth it!


As soon as it needs to and no sooner. Reserved matters will take 8 weeks tops and like at GH, is just a formality. No idea, I assume the trust will pay, but who gives the trust the money I don't yet know... of course, their is circa £2m to come from WMDC, so that more than cover it!


Yorkcourt and Langtree are developers, they will let the stadium build contract to the lowest tender bidder on the tender list, or go D&B. The list will probably include MC's who have stadium build experience and in actual fact, I bet I could right that list myself. I might do that when we get a bit further down the line and see if I am right!

Yes... I should have just written this in answer to your first post!

The what happens next is we get the final piece of paper from Eric & the answer is most probably 2015 season.

Thanks...a long way to go!

I think with how long it has taken to get to here, and how many false dawns over decades, that people want to wait before having a party.

Look at the abuse thrown at Cas for photos with diggers and crowing about planning permission. Just like them, nothing is built yet.

Thanks I A all good stuff, we've come along way in a relatively short time for a stadium build and we will get there.

Thanks for the anawers IA, much apprieciated.

At £5 for membership of the trust you can count me in even though due to the hours I work I will probably never get to a meeting get together.I look at it this way £5 wont buy much in todays world and if it helps keep the trust going thats not a bad thing with the hard work some have put in.

Thanks for the update IA, you are still my favourite Rhino, even ahead of Rob Burrow!!!!

Hope you enjoy your time at Wembley but maybe not a week on Monday

Either way, I hope the Wakefield fans all show their appreciation to you on the Belle Vue terrace. (I'll be sat down so probably won't be able to come and shake you by the hand.)

Well done to all else involved as well TRB, SWAG, the Trust and many more unsung heros. We've still a long way to go but onwards and upwards .

Have a celebration party when the first brick is laid.

I wonder if it had been marketed as an information event rather than a celebration, more people would have got on board? It seems that from the entirely non-scientific and possibly unrepresentative sample on here, people were generally reluctant to celebrate until there was something to actually celebrate?

Either way, it would be good to see some kind of update from the major stakeholders - the silence is a bit frustrating and is fuelling a gleeful naysayers thread on a certain mentalist forum.

Theres some real nutters on there, seizing on every opportunity to turn stuff into bad news for Wakey. It makes me laugh some of the sneaks that chip in on here from Cas then preach hell fire and brimstone Jihad with their alter-ego on the darkside.

Thank you for the reply to my questions. Lets hope all goes smoothly over the next few weeks and everything that is required is submitted on time and the decision swiftly ratified. At that point though I feel a question & answer session with the major stakeholders is imperative. There wouldn't normally be an evening with at the end of the season and this could fill a gap and give clarity to the situation.