Newmarket Junction 30 - Wakefield's Proposed Location
We have never been opposed to a community stadium with associated sports facilities, but it has always been our opinion and belief that Newmarket is a poor location as it would destroy over 200 acres of green belt land. We cannot justify this when there is perfectly good location at Junction 32, which has no planning issues.
Newmarket has no outline planning permission and the chances of it being approved are limited due to following:
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The proposed Community Stadium / Training Pitches are NOT on the former Newmarket Colliery site. It is in fact on land, that is designated as agricultural Green Belt land. The ex-colliery site is not suitable for a stadium due to nature of the land which is unstable and contaminated. The land was incorrectly re-filled over a 5 year period. As a consequence of this, Wakefield Council designated the site as "informal recreational use" which enables walkers, cyclists, dog walkers to enjoy, open green countryside.
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15,000 people signed a petition for a community stadium; however how many people were aware of the implications of the application? How many of these people had looked at the full application and fully understood the issues? How many of these people realised the vast majority of the plan was for industrial units on Green Belt land, and not just a community stadium?
Public consultation was very poor and very few people appreciated the full implications of this development.
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Not all the letters of objection have been made public on the Council website. Some unpublished letters raise serious concerns and objections to the application.
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Statutory bodies are still asking the developer for further detailed information. Some are requesting new assessments to be submitted as some of the data is flawed and needs further justification.
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Huge numbers of local residents throughout the Wakefield and Leeds district have strongly objected to the scheme.
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In March the Highways Agency requested new evidence before they could even consider the proposal. Some of the data was flawed and they have requested the developer submits new traffic data. We understand this information is still not forthcoming.
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In June, Wakefield Highways also had concerns with the transport assessment and travel plan and until further information was submitted they too could not recommend approval for the application. They had serious concerns about the site in terms of accessibility and sustainability both on match days and for employees.
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Reports have shown that the site is in a poor location to access on match days, for sports activites and for employment. It is heavily dependant on the car, there are very few public transport links, no railway link and the site is too remote to cycle or walk from Wakefield centre to the site. Current government policy states all new developments of this nature need to have good sustainable transport links, which are easily accessed by all sectors of society including, young, old and disabled persons and in fact any non drivers.
The planning application showed that most people would access the site by car.
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The main road from Wakefield, to Newmarket (A642 Aberford Road) was recently cited in the Road Safety Foundation Study, as the 5th worst road in the UK for accidents:
http://www.wakefieldexpress.co.uk/news/Road-39second-worst-in-UK39.6397239.jp
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Metro has indicated that improving bus services would be a low priority because the site is remote and not sustainable. There are further issues over shuttle bus services and the ongoing cost of such a scheme.
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Wakefield Environmental Health Services on 21st June raised serious issues and concerns with noise, vibration, traffic noise, poor noise mitigation schemes and in particular stadium noise throughout the district on match days. They questioned the authenticity of some of the data.
Now Wakefield Council has confirmed there will only be one stadium for the 2 rugby clubs, this means the Newmarket Environmental Health issues will be twice as bad, affecting the residents and the district every week.
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West Yorkshire Ecology has objected on ecological grounds.
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Yorkshire Water is concerned about parts of the flood risk assessment and has requested more detail.
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Wakefield Arboricultural Officer cannot justify the loss of woodland and trees to make way for a roundabout and a new entrance. He cannot support the scheme.
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C.P.R.E. has major concerns with the scheme because it is a serious intrusion in to the green belt and the reasons put forward to release such a huge area of green belt cannot be justified as "very special circumstances".
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West Yorkshire Archaeological Advisory Service has asked for a full report and site survey to assess the possibility of crucial historical remains.
They have requested a full survey is completed BEFORE ANY PLANNING APPROVAL IS GRANTED. Such work could take months in some circumstances years.
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Leeds City Council and Wakefield Council have had several meetings and Leeds City Council has maintained their position of complete objection to this or any reduced proposal.
Leeds City Council's main reasons for objection are: it is a significant intrusion into the Green Belt; the impact on traffic in the leeds district; the scale and extent of the development; issues with parking both on and off the site.
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Leeds City Council has already informed the government office of their concerns. The Leader, Deputy Leader and local Ward Councillors have confirmed they will call a Public Inquiry if Wakefield Council approves the scheme. This will enable all concerned parties, including local residents, the statutory bodies and Leeds City Council's legal department to put forward ALL their objections.
The application would then be independently assessed by a Government Inspector. This would take in excess of 12 months with no certainty of approval.
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The latest figures from Wakefield Council Research and Policy Unit states the following:
Out of Wakefield's 21 electoral wards, Stanley and Altofts (the proposed ward for the Newmarket development) has the lowest unemployment out of the whole of Wakefield. Also, this same ward has the greatest number of employment vacancies. In summary, the March 2010 figures state, Stanley and Altofts had, 338 vacancies in the district, and only 314 people looking for employment.
Although we are in favour of jobs being created, this is an area in Wakefield that does not require them.
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This proposed development is adjacent to residential areas, and there are only 800 proposed parking spaces for the stadium, meaning this will create serious parking issues which have not been fully addressed in the application.
We believe there are serious issues with this application which are not being addressed. The following questions need to be asked to force a decision:
a) Can this scheme be delivered in time for a new Super League licence?
b) Is the scheme really viable in planning terms?
c) Is the scheme financially viable?
d) Has anybody seen the business plan to deliver the stadium in time?
e) What chance does the application have if it goes to a Public Inquiry?