It is yet more good news on Newmarket!!!

The reason the Newmarket planning application was advertised in Friday's Wakefield Express if for two reason. An updated Environmental Impact Assessment report has been submitted and this includes design changes to the scheme. Both these things have a legal requirement to be advertised.

So, additional environmental assessment work has been undertaken by a company called TEP in respect of Water Voles and Otters on the site.

The upshot is they have proposed some changes to the ditch layouts (and providing some new ditch and habitat links) and also provided details of how these ditches and ponds should be constructed for Vole and Otters.

The conclusion is that "The proposed [revised scheme will [now have a beneficial impact on the Water Vole as a result of habitat creation and a negligible impact on Otter"

I would strongly suspect that this report and the layout changes have been agreed with Natural England prior to the submission of this report. The actual document list a 'Natural England Consultation Response' as been an appendix to the report, but for some reason it is not attached to the version uploaded to the planning portal.

The upshot therefore is that the only remaining significant statutory technical objection, from Natural England, would appear to have been resolved to their satisfaction. Now, Natural England and WYE may continue to object to the scheme, but that would be purely on 'principal' of removing this land from Greenbelt and nothing more. However, that is non-technical and will come back down to the point of what other sites are available to meet the LDF Core Strategy... and at the moment as we know, there does not appear to be any other options!

So, whatever happens on Tuesday, Newmarket continues to take giant strides forward and look ever more likley to happen day by day so we have to keep the pressure up to make sure this happens for future continued economic development, growth and jobs, professional RL and first class community sports facilities in the Wakefield district.

Cheers I_A. It's not going to make you any more popular with the tiggers, although I have heard a rumour that the wildcat tunnel at Belle Vue is to be replaced by an armadillo 'when' we move to NM.

Cur the cretin that is bigalf to try and tell us it's not happening it never will happen and wheldon road sale is sailing along smoothly excuse the pun, it's now going to be bought for 5 trillion and glasshoughton will be built within twelve months.

That's nice I'm sure!

BTW I_A is correct about the EIA



Please show me any of my post's where I have said that NM will [unever[/u happen and any that I have said GH will be built within 12 months.

You are getting more and more confused about me as time goes by.

Let me stop you there. The correct figure is £15 trillion with planning permission granted for a seven storey joint venture food retail outlet being built on the Wheldon Road site with Aldi, Lidl, Morrisons, Tesco, ASDA, Sainsburys & Waitrose all taking a floor each. Glasshoughton has been built in a secret underground facility underneath the big mound of silt next to Xscape. The stands have been sponsored and paid for.

That all sounds very good news. Can I ask this though? If the Widcats lose their licence on Tuesday and in 3 years time GH is still not likely to be ready for the start of 2015 would Cas be within their rights to say to the RFL that they will play at Newmarket until GH is ready. With NM being a community complex for the WMDC area could they decide to take up this option? If so then the Wildcats might struggle to get a license next time around particularly if Cas have been going well on and off the pitch.

They could but they have previously stated they did not want a groundshare and their fans have said they would not watch a team playing out of Newmarket. It would be interesting to hear RW and some of the cas fans back tracking though if this did happen, given that we keep being told GH will be built before Newmarket (and that Newmarket happening at all is doubtful).

Well you all spend enough time stuck in his "tunnel" already so makes sense

Unlike you stalking him.

The funding of the stadium has absolutely ZERO to do with AG can I make that clear - he is a passenger like the rest of us. We are tenants, the only funding we put towards it as far as I'm aware is the alternative land guarantee put in place by the Council for bot NM and Glasshoughton.

Yorkcourt and the trust of which AG is not a member are responsible for NM we are the anchor tenant.

would be disgrace if Cas took up the option to ground share if they felt they had to short term. My feelings are like a kid with sweets "get your own". If we get a new ground and they are no further then we should replace them and vice versa as well.This is why both teams should have been given a 12 month repreive and then if not coming up with goods at the end you are out. The RFL must see that both clubs and communities are pulling out the stops to sort their respective situations.

Why should Cas only get a 12 month licence? The stadium/playing facilities is only one part of the process and the only part of our application that lets us down in my opinion. Everything else at the club has progressed in the last three years; so if anything we're are a perfect example, should the RFL need one, of the benefits of franchising and the licence system. Can wakefield say the same?

Your point "get your own" is somewhat ironic as NM will be a community stadium; with its use available to anyone who can afford to pay. Wakefield Trinity will hold no ownership, as far as I'm aware, and therefore would have no right to turn anyone away.

A community stadium for WAKEFIELD, and you lot keep saying that your part of wakefield

I fail to see your point Willzay, could you elaborate please?

NM will be a community stadium for Wakefield, not Castleford.

Perhaps someone else could shed some light because I, along with everone else in the district was led to believe that the facilities that NM would provide were for the whole of the district of Wakefield, which includes the 5 towns does it not?

As far as I am aware you are right, but it would be a humiliating climb down for your club and some of your fans who have insisted GH would be built first (with NM unlikely to get the nod at all in certain peoples eyes), they didn't want a ground share at NM and that they wouldn't watch a team playing outside of Cas.

Of course its for the 5 towns, in the city of Wakefield.

The majority of Wakefield fans also believe the same.
We just can't believe Cas will sell their soul and move out of Cas and into Wakey to maintain their Super League place. Name change next maybe?

I kind of agree Wollo.... Any decision by Cas to back track and use the facilities at NM could prove disastrous, even in the short term. I've always felt a move to NM would kill Castleford RLFC and would eventually lead to a merger, a point I mooted a few months ago on here.

There are deep divisions within the district and always have been. Wakefield District never has and never will feel like one community in my opinion.

Plainly something people from outside of the district who advocate a merger involving the two clubs, and Featherstone, fail to grasp. It an artificial boundary.

The Wakefield District is only a politically motivated creation. A bit like one of these African countries set up using Empire borders but containing tribal divisions that can never be overridden.

If you've looked at the plans for both GH and NM it's blatantly obvious that they are as different as chalk and cheese.
One is very much a box standard "ikea" stadium, the other is a multi use sporting arena with corporate facilities that rival any in the county- and that's without mentioning the plethora of educational facilities on the site.

I'm sure Fully will enlighten you which is which.

Although the bottom line is (still) which is built first, all I can say is I can smell another PI on the way. The challenges we faced with NM under the UDP are just as big as those faced by WR under then new LDF. While our path appears to be clearing CT's could be just as muggy as it's ever been.

NM will be promise land, with NM the RFL will come crawling back.

That's lovely G. Price fan club, but what does any of what you said have to do with what is currently being discussed?

As the anchor tenants I would hope our view of Castleford moving into Newmarket would be seriously considered. The conflict of interest is there for everyone to see and serving as a home for Castleford would almost certainly damage the future prospects of Wakefield Trinity and therefore the stadiums main income stream.

The Stadium Trust might take the view that long term they are better off backing Trinity and protecting their long term revenue as opposed to backing any Tigers tenancy would only be short term.