Re: D-DAY Monday! : Fri Aug 04, 2017 8:40 am  

Fully agree with Redscat.

Re: D-DAY Monday! : Fri Aug 04, 2017 8:42 am  

Fully agree with Chissit and Bren.

[Wildthing]

Re: D-DAY Monday! : Fri Aug 04, 2017 8:45 am  

30 - 30

Re: D-DAY Monday! : Fri Aug 04, 2017 8:51 am  

4foxsake wrote:

I think the argument speaks for itself Walefield is the 20th largest district in the country and has no up to date modern stadium capable of hosting sporting/cultural events at a professional level. This situation should be remedied by building a new facility in Wakefield City Centre where it can be easily accessed by all residents of the district. It's not rocket science.

Wakefield MDC [depending on which most up to date figures] is actually between the 9th and 11th biggest city metropolitan area in the UK with a population of approx. 326,000. Looking at some of the cities below us in the table, it is striking that they all seem to have very good first class Stadia although this could be because of having top class professional sport teams. [ Of which i think we in Wakefield also have]

E.G. a few of the cities listed below us are,but not in any particular order Cardiff,Coventry,Swansea,Nottingham,Leicester,Sunderland,Belfast,Derby,Newcastle upon Tyne,Hull and Southampton.

Re: D-DAY Monday! : Fri Aug 04, 2017 8:59 am  

bren2k wrote:

Absolutely right - and the Hepworth is a very bad example of a frivolous investment that could have been better spent on a stadium; it's an unqualified success, and attracted more visitors in its first year of operation than a stadium would in 20 years.

With regard to Newmarket - it doesn't help that WMDC, and everyone else, refer to it as a stadium for WT; it was always meant to be a community stadium with additional facilities for sports other than RL, but nobody talks about that. As such, it's probably perceived by the wider public as a private venture, which will be of use to 4 or 5 thousand people every other week, for part of the year - hardly the kind of thing that people will get behind, in the face of competing projects in their own communities, which they would see more direct benefit from. It's perhaps a problem of PR as much as anything else.

The inevitable calls to disinvest in other things to fund the stadium are less than helpful - WMDC will never pay for it, I doubt they'll even guarantee a loan to build it, so it's a circular and pointless exercise to trawl around the district pointing out other projects that are pointless, because we personally don't benefit from them.

Spot on.

Re: D-DAY Monday! : Fri Aug 04, 2017 9:00 am  

Redscat wrote:

The whole point I'm making chissitt is that the proposed COMMUNITY stadium at Newmarket, just like the swimming pool, IS for the benefit of Wakefield and it's outlying districts which includes Ossett, Hemsworth, Normanton, South Kirkby et al,and yes, even Castleford. You don't seem to be able to grasp the idea that Wakefield Trinity WILL NOT own the stadium.
The leader of Wakefield MDC and his fawning deputy appear to have one main agenda and that is to promote Castleford at the expense of the lead city of the area. Just look at the industrial and leisure development that is going on around the town.
As for your reference to my bitterness towards Cas council, Cas DON'T HAVE a council:it's part of WAKEFIELD MDC.

First of all I know full well that the stadium would be owned by the council and not Wakefield Trinity, it seems to me that the point you are trying to put across is that if they can build a new swimming pool in the city then why can't they build a new stadium, I don't know the answer to that and like you and so many other Wakey fans I wish it would become a reality, unfortunately atm it's not happening, the thing I'm trying unsuccessfully is pointing out to you that imo using the swimming pool as a stick to beat the council with is not the way to go and may alienate any support you might have from the none rugby people of Wakefield and it's districts.

It looks like my poor attempt at sarcasm went straight over your head with my reference to Cas council, I know full well that Castleford don't have a council, and let me just say that firstly that I don't disagree with what you are saying as it doesn't affect me but you do seem to come across as slightly bitter yourself by make references to everything the council are promoting in the Cas area

Re: D-DAY Monday! : Fri Aug 04, 2017 9:26 am  

I'm not sure how you can consider the Hepworth an unqualified success, it cost the council over £18m to build and currently costs the council £1.25m/annum to operate. The gallery attracted 210,000 visitors in 2016 and all of them got in for free. That means that each visitor cost the Wakefield tax payer around £6 for them to visit. The most successful thing it has managed to achieve is winning a £100,000 prize, this hardly touches the sides of the running costs.

I'm sure if the council were to build a stadium for £18m and then give the club £1.25m per year in place of entry fees, we'd see figures surpass the attendance figures for the gallery

Re: D-DAY Monday! : Fri Aug 04, 2017 9:50 am  

Egg Banjo wrote:

I'm not sure how you can consider the Hepworth an unqualified success, it cost the council over £18m to build and currently costs the council £1.25m/annum to operate. The gallery attracted 210,000 visitors in 2016 and all of them got in for free. That means that each visitor cost the Wakefield tax payer around £6 for them to visit. The most successful thing it has managed to achieve is winning a £100,000 prize, this hardly touches the sides of the running costs.

That's simplistic BS, as I suspect you know; the gallery has received international recognition, and this time last year, was estimated to have brought around £20 million into the local economy. Whether we like it or not, it has an appeal that a RL club can only dream of, and brings a cultural and economic benefit to the district that eclipses anything in living memory - I fail to see how anyone in Wakefield wouldn't be proud of that, given the wasteland we've become since Leeds' meteoric rise in recent decades.

Wish for a stadium all you like - but don't wish for it *instead* of something like The Hepworth; it's a stupid argument and makes you look parochial and small-minded, which I doubt you actually are.

Re: D-DAY Monday! : Fri Aug 04, 2017 10:21 am  

Egg Banjo wrote:

I'm not sure how you can consider the Hepworth an unqualified success, it cost the council over £18m to build and currently costs the council £1.25m/annum to operate. The gallery attracted 210,000 visitors in 2016 and all of them got in for free. That means that each visitor cost the Wakefield tax payer around £6 for them to visit. The most successful thing it has managed to achieve is winning a £100,000 prize, this hardly touches the sides of the running costs.

I'm sure if the council were to build a stadium for £18m and then give the club £1.25m per year in place of entry fees, we'd see figures surpass the attendance figures for the gallery

A very good point. I don't want to get into slagging the Hepworth; I think promoting the arts is important but surely so is sport; health of the nation and our young people in particular and all that! I know times are financially hard but I am betting this could be done if the political will was there.

Re: D-DAY Monday! : Fri Aug 04, 2017 10:26 am  

bren2k wrote:

That's simplistic BS, as I suspect you know; the gallery has received international recognition, and this time last year, was estimated to have brought around £20 million into the local economy. Whether we like it or not, it has an appeal that a RL club can only dream of, and brings a cultural and economic benefit to the district that eclipses anything in living memory - I fail to see how anyone in Wakefield wouldn't be proud of that, given the wasteland we've become since Leeds' meteoric rise in recent decades.

Wish for a stadium all you like - but don't wish for it *instead* of something like The Hepworth; it's a stupid argument and makes you look parochial and small-minded, which I doubt you actually are.

Also good points and I don't want to be having a go at the Hepworth either but it has to be said that there is a stark contrast between the will to get that project done and the will to get the stadium done. I wonder what the peripheral cost to the Wakefield economy of losing Trinity would be. We are all on the same side here. I think we share a lot of frustration at this situation.