Do we have any other funding in place or if not in place then guaranteed should the project go ahead or funding that we know 100% is accessible to us once we sign contracts to build or sources of funding identified that yet need applying for?

If yes to any of the above, can someone categorise the sources for me and give approximate values?

Thanks

But wouldn't that be cutting off our nose to spite the face of Wakefield, because if the development didn't go ahead look at all the jobs that would be lost for the area

There's quite a long letter in the League Express today from a guy called Neil Rodgers who is Service Director for planning etc. at WMDC in which he explains that it's nothing to do with the council and that it was made clear that Newcold would not count towards the stadium development.
There are a couple of things however that I'm not clear about. In it he says that legal advice was sought from the councils own planning lawyer. That will be the one who they didn't appear to be able to provide the info from under the FOI request as I understand it ????

The other thing is that he says the size of the development (Newcold) is below the 60K square Mtrs threshold for contributing toward the stadium. This to me reads as though for the stadium to start, any one building that goes up has to be more than 60k sq mtrs whereas I though it was the total of any developments that may take place had to equal or exceed this figure. ?????

I guess that's why they went for a 42m high unit rather than 18. Twice the amount of storage for roughly the same footprint.

This. It's obvious Yorkcourt have no intention of building the ground whatever the outcome, but it will stop them getting rich at our expense. Problem is a very public battle with the council and its planners and a developer won't help us moving forward. Nobody else will touch us with a bargepole in the future. Damned if we do, damned if we don't. I suppose at least we'd go out swinging and with the moral high ground but it's an expensive way of doing it.

The more I read on here the more concerned I become that before TRB, IA and sandal cat became involved in this project nobody seems to have had a clue what was going on. I would love to know who agreed to these clauses in the first place because it just does not seem as though they understood the information that was being given to them.

I think it's that bit that has lead the council to apparently side with the developer. They have various growth targets set for them by government and i guess Newmarket was a large part of the amount the council had earmarked to be able to hit those figures. They know if Yorkcourt bailed out, which is likely if they are 'forced' to build a stadium, the whole thing stops and not only they are in the shizzle because of that but the whole area suffers as a result with less jobs, less income from the business rates etc etc. All of which doesn't help us get that elusive stadium as i'm sure the next piece of rhetoric that appears from them in the press will be along those lines and i imagine most of the wider Wakefield public would prefer jobs available and lower council tax rises than us having a ground. I can see this getting very messy.

The 60,000m2 is a cumulative figure and they know it!

This statement, and others like it from different Council mouthpieces, are just spin statements designed to fog the truth.

They've Fecked Up and they know it, now it's about how they can get themselves out of it without losing face.

As for the 'it's got nothing to do with us' guff, who enforces planning legislation then because if it's not the Council I'm at a loss as to who's responsibility it is!

This is disgraceful and I just wonder if a can of worms lies just beneath the surface we're likely to scratch if this goes further!

This sums it up for me.

Just a couple of points in your post, firstly if that is the only building that gets built then I imagine there won't be that many jobs available, and whose to say they will go to the Wakefield side of the M62 and not the Leeds side, secondly if there are enough units built which creates plenty of jobs then surely Yorkcourt will have to full fill their obligations, just a thought.

So is it the footprint that counts towards the stadium or actual usable space, do we know what the giant fridge is like inside i.e. is there more than one floor or is it one gigantic open space for racking.

Re your second point Chissit - what is to stop Yorkcourt just submitting a new 106 for every new building phase and not contributing 1 single square metre towards the stadium build. They've got it rubber stamped by WMDC once, so why not do it again and again ???

The trigger point is 60,000 SQUARE metres, not CUBIC metres, so it is the floor space that counts (unfortunately !!)

It's the usable m2,

The whole point of the clause being inserted into the S106 was to allow YCP to make some profit from the sale or lease of a sufficient amount of warehousing to enable them to start work on the stadium.

IIRC the original proposal was that the Stadium be built first before any other buildings whatsoever but Colin Mackie argued that the cost up front would be too great and that an amount of building and leasing of the Units was required first and so the figure of 60,000m2 was arrived at.

Therein lies the deceit of Colin Mackie who has misrepresented his position at the Secretary of States Public Inquiry. It's obvious now that he and his company never ever intended on building the stadium.

It won't be the only building built as even if it did count towards the trigger then despite it's ridiculous size it is only just over halfway towards it. They would build up to the 60,000 sqm point then walk so it's the rest of the build after that which would never happen. As for what side of the M62 the jobs go it is irrelevent these days. It is now all about the Leeds City Region partnership of which Wakefield, along with the other West Yorkshire authorities, is part of so it comes under this. The chair of this group? A certain Peter Box. And as for the last point and YC's obligations, not if they keep playing the same trick everytime and get round the 106. The only way to stop this is the court action but then they'll walk away so still no stadium. We would be relying on Mackie and Co. having a major change of heart and taking a massive chunk out of their overall profit. Can't see it myself especially given that by looks of it their accounts don't make great reading as it is.

In all honesty, I hope they do walk away!

The plot is prime building land now and won't be short of interested parties, Peel Holdings have strong ties in Wakefield I think they'd jump at the chance and they've also got form for delivering stadia as part of their developments. Unlike YCP PH are cash rich and literally dwarf YCP in terms of their size.

As long as the S106 is re-established and the new developer comes into it knowing the all the facts then bring it on.

YCP don't deserve to make money off this

I read that article first thing this morning and have spent several hours stewing on it (and waiting for the steam to stop coming out of my ears



), before concocting the below response :-

Neil Rodgers put across a very convincing article in this weeks League Express detailing Wakefield Metropolitan District Council's stance on the disgraceful state of affairs that has been allowed to develop at Newmarket. He must have spent a great number of hours writing his tale, which details from thread-to-needle how the council worked hand-in-hand with all other parties in striving to achieve their aims in relation to the development. It is very eloquently written and leaves the reader in no un-certain terms as to where the council currently stands on the issue. Well done, Mr Rodgers, I would expect nothing less of a highly-paid council official, you can be rightly proud of such an impressive article.

However, the people of Wakefield along with the supporters of the Wildcats, believe you have missed out the most important thing. Correct me if I am wrong, but wasn't the aim of the entire lengthy process to improve sporting facilities in Wakefield by providing the people of the town with a stadium to be proud of, along with associated training pitches to be used by Wakefield College and local sports clubs, and also providing jobs for local people, with this part of the development being facilitated by the warehousing build ?? If it hadn't been for the legally binding S.106 agreement signed by the Secretary of State insisting that the only way the land could be taken out of greenbelt and used for B8 warehousing, was by incorporating a community stadium and associated community facilities, then the warehousing would NOT have been authorised. However, the developers - Yorkcourt - have now deviously circumvented this legally binding agreement, and for whatever reason, the WMDC planning committee approved it !!

So, Yorkcourt have made a nice healthy profit in developing the site, and will no doubt continue to do so....WMDC have created new jobs in the district and gone part of the way to fulfilling their commitment to providing additional B8 development land, and the people of Wakefield have got.....NOTHING !!!

Yes, Mr Rodgers, you may wax lyrical about the Council's legal position on this matter (which is likely to be put under scrutiny in a court of law), but morally the council's position stinks. The people of Wakefield were promised much-needed new sporting facilities, along with a new Community stadium, but are now not going to get either. I hope you are all proud of yourselves.

Although Iv'e read this thread with interest from the beginning, I'd be lying if I said I fully understand what's happening apart from the obvious that is, I was merely pointing out without getting involved out of my depth that to some extent that paragraph contradicted itself, as for your question, I simply cannot answer it but I'm sure that there a some that can.

I have to agree and it probably represents the only chance a stadium would be built there. But Yorkcourt would no doubt bleed every last square metre it could without having to build before moving on, probably just leaving all the part of the site which remains greenbelt. Whether a company, Peel or otherwise, would be interested in the much reduced profit for the possible hassle involved i'm not sure.

Which is why there should have been a levy on every m2 rather than a total cumulative amount of 60,000m2.

That way YCP would have to pay the pro rata amount and any other developers would have to do the same.

After reading the whole letter in league express, the only words that spring to mind are "what a total .."
"The planning inspector reference to dis aggregation in his report to the secretary of state was concerned with the quantum of development needed to enable the construction of the stadium and whether the scale of development could be delivered on an alternative site with less environmental impact. The inspector comments were not directed at the acceptability or not of any future potential developments on the wider site" is what he said, so the secretary of states report didn't say the site shouldn't be separated up into individual developments then, and the only reason they passed it was the need for a new stadium for Wakefield? What report did this bloke read????

For some clarity:

The site is divided in 3 principal areas:

1. The stadium site which remains in GB
2. The B8 development land which is removed from GB
3. The A3, A1, Hotel & Restaurant site which remains in GB

It would seem that WMDC believe that Anyone can develop on the B8 land without reference to the 106 - a point we strongly contest - even if the original OPP lapses. This land is re-designated and can be applied for new PP quite reasonably, albeit we still maintain that there is a land charge on this area.

The Stadium site and the remaining areas can on,y be developed under the original OPP. If the developer does not follow the original OPP and the conditions set, he will lose this area and it will return to GB and will be very difficult to remove from it, just leaving an industrial estate on the former colliery land.

IF he considers the Stadium issue to be too big to fund, he could sacrifice the remainder of the site and just accept the profit he can realise from the B8 land and no more. I'm not saying he will do this, but he might, and this is all brought about by the disaggregation of the site - via a loophole that WMDC claim to have taken legal advice over for which we were told does not exist but is now referenced by Neil Rodgers who was not there at the time! Either Neil has seen something we have been told does not exist OR it still doesn't exist as formal legal advice! Which is it? A further FOI has been submitted!

My new neighbour of two months from Somerset, who has no knowledge of RL , was shown the response of the council in a letter I received from Mary Creagh and also the League Exp letter,and said they seemed to being deliberately obstructive and could not understand why they were not pressing for the new community facility to go ahead.
He said why were they involved in the first place if they do not support it now?
An simplistic, immediate response from someone with no 'axe to grind'.

What are the total square metre amounts for each of the 3 principle areas?
And how much is the Newcold building taking up?

Without digging around I am not sure, but its reasonably substantial areas which are left. There is plenty of B8 to reach the 60,000m2.

Is there enough to fund a Stadium in full, probably not.

We particularly like the bit where it says about 'if the developer is minded' or something to that effect - it isn't if hes minded, he bloomin well obligated!!!! Otherwise, what is the point of a 106???