‘This is our moment’: Football club Gateway scheme surges past £100m

Caitlin Thomas

A city’s gateway scheme is powering ahead as the “final pieces of the jigsaw” are put in place to unlock major private investment, business leaders will be told.

The Mold Road development has now surged past the £100 million mark, making it the biggest regeneration scheme Wrexham has ever seen, according to Wrexham County Borough Council project manager Alistair Aldridge.

The huge plan includes a new transport hub and public plaza at Wrexham General Railway Station, a flagship office building, a Wrexham Lager brewery, tap room and museum, and the new Kop stand at Wrexham AFC’s Racecourse ground.

Mr Aldridge will provide an update on progress at the next meeting of the Wrexham Business Professionals group at the Maesgwyn Hall on Friday, March 6.

The group is made up of successful businesses and skilled professionals working together to promote regional prosperity and shine a light on the enterprise and expertise that exists in the region.

Clwyd South MS Ken Skates, the Welsh Government Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales, who has been a key supporter of the project, will also speak at the meeting.

‘Exemplar project’

According to Mr Aldridge, the global interest in Wrexham, sparked by the ownership of the city’s football club by Hollywood pair Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney and their hit documentary Welcome to Wrexham, was helping to drive the transformation scheme forward.

He said: “The next few months are crucial They are all about de-risking the project to encourage the private sector to invest in the delivery.

“It’s getting the land assembly concluded, it’s getting the outline planning consents in place, it’s getting agreements with the prospective tenants of the office building, it’s getting the grant funding in place – it’s all the final pieces of the jigsaw before bringing in the private sector.

“Ultimately we don’t have the money to deliver it ourselves, we need the private sector to step up.

“We want to make it an exemplar project; we want it to be a flagship to demonstrate to people coming to Wrexham what best represents the city.”

He added: “The football club has never gone public on how expensive their stand is, but as a wider project we are now in excess of £100 million of investment.

“That is a combination of grant funding and private sector and includes initial grant funding of £25 million given to us by Welsh Government and that was for multi-modal transport at the station.

“That opportunity is what really gave birth to the Gateway because the council felt that we could go a little bit wider than that and invest in the whole area, not just the station.

“We have got more money from the Growth Deal, administered by Ambition North Wales, and we’ve got the Investment Zone where we are seeking to get some money.

“People need to realise this is not about diverting money which could be spent on filling potholes – this is about money which if we didn’t get would probably be spent down in South Wales.

“For example there are four international standard football grounds in South Wales and not one in North Wales – why should we not have a piece of that excitement and action?

“At the networking events we have going on in Wrexham, you can feel the palpable excitement and buzz about the potential for Wrexham and all these different bits and pieces are going to complement existing businesses.

“We have got people who are very hungry for space in the office building, for example. The tourism numbers are through the roof.

“The support we have had from Welsh Government throughout has been fabulous; they have been instrumental in bringing this forward.

“The partnerships we have had in place with Transport for Wales, Wrexham University, the football club, all sorts of different people, has been brilliant and that is what has enabled the project.

“Everyone wants to see Wrexham come forward, everyone feels it is our time now and we want to embrace that and make it happen and support other stakeholders in their journey.”

‘Commitment and determination’

Ken Skates MS said there was “a huge amount of energy, commitment and determination” to bring the ambitious plans to fruition.

“We are going to see pretty significant movement on the project this year,” he said.

“It has been a huge, huge task pulling together lots of different partners and acquiring different parcels of land, designing an integrated transport hub and at the same time ensuring key components around it can be built as soon as possible, including of course the Kop end of the football ground.

“This is the first partnership of its kind that I can recall bringing so many partners together for the same purpose.

“There is a huge amount of energy, commitment and determination to deliver from all partners.

“It’s a really, really exciting project and will completely transform the entrance to Wrexham and I think builds on the recent success that Wrexham has had globally in terms of attention and recognition of place, and also pride in the place as well.”

Ian Edwards from Wrexham Business Professionals said: “The Wrexham Gateway project is a crucial regeneration scheme which will transform a key entrance to the city.

“Just like our football club, the city as a whole is on the rise, and schemes like this support its future growth.”

Louise Harper from Wrexham Business Professionals said: “Everyone who travels in and out of Wrexham on Mold Road will have seen the work on building the new Kop stand at the football stadium.

“That work is a key element of the Gateway scheme and it will be hugely interesting to hear about the progress being made and how the Wrexham business community can benefit from it.”

The free-to-attend event will take place on Friday, March 6, at the Maesgwyn Hall, in Wrexham, beginning at 8.30am with refreshments on arrival and concluding at 10.15am.

People wishing to attend should confirm by email to [email protected]