Groves to be funded by the members (SGM brief Q&A on Groves)

[Hightown Brymbo Red]

So there doesn't appear to be any money set aside for it
To be funded by income and the members! Good luck with that
Notapennymore

[Rob]

If like me you wondered where this came from, its in the latest update today https://wst.org.uk/wp/?p=1370

How will the investment be funded?

​If the scheme was voted through we are 18 months away from being able to start any work. Funds would need to be set aside from income to make the initial changes to the site needed as well as fundraising with the support of the owners (you the members).

Regardless of the site location this approach would be the same. Our strategy would be to create pitches only in any phase one to minimise cost unless there is some other windfall for the club in that time period. Ultimately Wrexham AFC requires somewhere to train and therefore this is a normal part of any football club i.e. funding training facilities.

Has the money already been provided for?

​No.

Why?

It has taken us a little while to get to this point as you can see from the presentation talks started in 2018/19 season.

The financial fortunes of the club have changed in the period since then with a poor season in 2019/20 compounded by losing 25% of our home fixtures and C19 wiping out all income for a period of five months and counting.

We spend as we go along. Remember the club will still face these costs on any new development plus the cost of securing the site and related costs. This option, thanks to the support of our partners, is the best value option for your club.

Has a lawyer formally confirmed the time period to lift the covenants?

All timings are approximate as are subject to the legal system and have been shared with Wrexham AFC by WCBC who have taken legal advice on the matter. Removal of covenant would be the responsibility of WCBC.

Has cost inflation and contingency indexation been added to cost estimate to take it to likely date of start on site?

​The presentation element calls out that the figures shown are the quotes provided by potential suppliers and are a point in time.

We are realistic that to begin with we are likely to only be in a position to create pitches and not the other parts of the proposed development which could be some years away and therefore are an indication only of what it might cost and would need to be re calculated.

What happens if significant contamination is found when soil is tested?

As this was originally a school field and there are no records of contamination this is unlikely but something we would guard against by going through all of the right checks and searches before any lease was signed.

This resolution calls out that no lease would be signed unless we got the right planning consent and also the restrictive covenants were lifted.

What happens if the covenants aren’t lifted and our lease on 9 acres ends?

​We would need to investigate other options at that point in time. Our investigation to date shows that this is the very best option in our view as we obtain a 7.3 acre piece of flat land less than a mile from the Racecourse effectively for free.

We are very grateful to our partners in WCBC who have worked with us to achieve this.

Why is this option better than Colliers?

This question assumes that Colliers is available to us as an option. It isn’t. We have held conversations with the owners and we have managed to secure some capacity at night for our youngsters and our Ladies teams. We are grateful to our friends at the FAW for their help with this.

However the site is in use during the daytime and our access would be limited. We are not the only club in North Wales, or Wrexham . Whenever the FAW needed it for one of its teams we would be forced to make alternate arrangements.

Furthermore it would come at an annual cost which we would not have to find at the Groves. Any of those issues could be applied to alternate sites around the town. Our friends at the Council are basically gifting us the land and our costs are limited to preparing pitches.

Any alternate site would still require us to spend that money or pay rent or be prepared to find an alternate site when our landlords needed to use the facilities.

We used to own Colliers but it was taken away from us. Finding a new site has been a long and exhausting task. The damage caused to our club did not disappear when it was bought. We live with that legacy today.

[Hightown Brymbo Red]

Cheers Rob

[Rob]

The bit on"
What happens if the covenants aren’t lifted and our lease on 9 acres ends?

​We would need to investigate other options at that point in time.
"

That could require quite a quick investigation, development and move to a Plan B if required.

From the documents over the weekend...

"The legal process of removal of the covenants would be the responsibility of WCBC and we anticipate that taking up to 18 months"

"Within next 2 to 3 years Nine Acre will become unavailable to us"


So possible worst case scenario 1.5 years to get the covenant to decision, whack in six months for an appeal... if rejected, gives us either zero to a year to find a new training ground.

The council could be working in partnership but planning and covenants are not in their gift.

[Phils-an-alki]

So the Ward money is definitely all gone then?

[-luke]

Originally Posted by Rob

The bit on"
What happens if the covenants aren’t lifted and our lease on 9 acres ends?

​We would need to investigate other options at that point in time.
"

That could require quite a quick investigation, development and move to a Plan B if required.

From the documents over the weekend...

"The legal process of removal of the covenants would be the responsibility of WCBC and we anticipate that taking up to 18 months"

"Within next 2 to 3 years Nine Acre will become unavailable to us"


So possible worst case scenario 1.5 years to get the covenant to decision, whack in six months for an appeal... if rejected, gives us either zero to a year to find a new training ground.

The council could be working in partnership but planning and covenants are not in their gift.

Assuming vote passes (unlikely it won't)
9 acre gone in 2 years
18 months to remove restrictive covenance

That give us potentially 6 months to do one of

1) develop groves site onces covenance removed and get it into working condition unless we take a gamble and start the work before this... Or
2) Identify, secure and fund a new training facility.

If anything, my objections might have been all wrong... I should have pointed that we have placed all our eggs in a basket which might or might not have a big hole in it just because that basket might have been going cheap. Have we slept on this too long?

[-luke]

Originally Posted by Phils-an-alki

So the Ward money is definitely all gone then?

Yes, and before they start blaming covid... It was long gone before the pandemic struck.

[Phils-an-alki]

Originally Posted by -luke

Yes, and before they start blaming covid... It was long gone before the pandemic struck.

This is huge for me. They've basically wasted that money on managers and players who have achieved nothing with some really baffling decisions along the way.
Also, the Stadium is still in desperate need of even the most basic facilities being brought up to an acceptable standard. We have toilets that are still a disgrace.

[Rob]

Originally Posted by -luke

Have we slept on this too long?

This isnt really anything new the plan was announced publicly late 2018.