Wrexham AFC criticised for lack of engagement as academy plans approved

Alec Doyle – Local democracy reporter

Wrexham Football Club has been criticised for failing to engage with councillors and residents impacted by plans to develop its U16s academy.

Councillors on Wrexham County Borough Council’s Planning Committee approved plans to carry our drainage improvement and structural works on the pitches at Darland High School where the £4 million Wrexham AFC Academy is based.

But local member for Rossett Cllr Hugh Jones criticised the club after it did not respond to repeated requests to consult with the community on the plans.

“The issue today is not really about the academy,” he said. “We all support the need for the academy. We all support the work the academy is doing. We are here to determine whether or not the planning application is appropriate for the local community.

“Comments have been made about the positive outcome for the community. It’s interesting that the academy and the football club have failed to respond to any emails from the residents affected, some of whom are season ticket holders.

“They’ve failed to respond to any emails from myself and an attempt by the chair of the governing body to facilitate an on‑site meeting with myself and the academy came to naught because the academy didn’t respond to the email.

“The only current effect for the local community is the indiscriminate parking in residential areas which causes a significant amount of problems for the residents.”

Containers

Richard Bennion, speaking on bahelf of local residents in nearby Almere Gardens, said there remained an issue with the proposed shipping containers that will be used for storage on site.

Fresh plans before the committee moved the four metre high storage tanks and the shipping containers to areas of the site which were less intrusive, however residents in Almere Gardens remained concerned about the visual impact of the structures.

“We recognise the importance of the football club to the city and the wider borough and are really supportive of all they’re doing and generally with the facility,” he said.

“Three additional shipping containers will have a detrimental visual impact on our homes. Locating them to a less sensitive and less intrusive position would be welcomed, but if they’re painted in a suitable recessive colour to blend into the environment and fully screened with a high quality landscape to mitigate the industrial appearance, we’re happy.

“Furthermore, the associated pumping and irrigation equipment planned is likely to create some significant noise. Despite this, no noise impact assessment has been provided to date for the council. This lack of due diligence makes it impossible to assess the true impact on our daily lives.

“We would welcome the entire compound being moved 100 metres to the north. This shift would significantly reduce the overbearing nature of the structures for the affected families whilst still providing the club with the infrastructure that they require.

“The current application fails to safeguard our residential amenity and we request the committee requires an alternative layout. We urge the developers to reconsider the location to ensure the club’s growth doesn’t come at the expense of the neighbours.”

Dream

Club academy manager Gus Williams defended the scheme.

“Three years ago the idea of an academy at Wrexham AFC was a distant dream,” he said. “Now it facilitates dreams and acts as a platform for young people to grow and develop into better players and certainly better citizens with a positive outcome for the community.

“The CEO and owners are committed to the growth of the academy. The investment so far has been in excess of £4 million.

“Through that commitment we employ 21 full‑time staff, 40 part‑time staff who look after over 140 young players.

“We are keen to be good neighbours in all the communities we engage with which we have done proactively since I came into post along with senior colleagues during the last 12 months.

“We remain confident that the existing and new communities in Rossett will embrace the academy. We have a responsibility to protect the futures of these young players and people and a positive outcome today will play a significant part in that.”

Amendments tabled to conduct noise surveys to determine the impact on residents failed to gather support from the planning committee, however it did support a review of the colour and screening of the shipping containers in consultation with local residents as councillors supported the application.