Wycombe Wanderers and London Wasps Stadium plans unveiled

The plan to replace Adams Park would include a 17,500 to 20,000 stadium, dining facilities and a nursery or creche, council chiefs said.

An option to have futher facilities include synethtic and rugby pitches, indoor football and rugby pitches, a hotel and conference centre and training facilities.

A further option would add to this a ‘sports village’ featuring badminton and squash courts, a cricket pitch, track and field facilities and a sports centre.

Council and club bosses referred to the scheme as a ‘sports village’ when early plans were unveiled in March (see links, bottom of story).

And 19 sites have been named which ‘fit the assumptions’ needed for the development, such as being in an urban area.

These include, as long expected, Wycombe Air Park but also Cressex Island, the former Compair site in High Wycombe town centre, Marlow gravel pits and Terriers Farm (see list, bottom of story).

Many of the sites have already been earmarked for housing and other development. Offices and a coach station are planned at Handy Cross, for example, along with a rebuilt sport centre.

Bosses insist it is an early list. The air park has long been considered the favourite and WDC has commissioned studies into its use.

The latest report confirms the stadium is likely to be paid for by letting a developer put homes on the selected site, with the condition it contributes to the scheme.

The plans will be consulted on in September or October.

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Club chiefs said their current Sands ground is hampered by having one exit and entrance and ‘corporate hospitality facilities fail to meet club aspirations’.

Attendance is hit by delays, the WDC reprort says, it does not meet disabled access laws and ‘dug outs are too small’.

More seats are needed, it adds. Adams Park opened in 1991 and has 10,516 seats.

The average Wasps attendance is 8,542, though major games attract more and some have had to take place outside of the town.

The report says: “As an important part of revenue, there is no capacity to improve the experience within the current stadium.”

Rugby chiefs will demand that Heineken Cup European games have a minimum 15,000 capacity, it adds.

Yet some have argued that Wycombe District Council should not be leading the drive, and earmarking £750,000 for it, as it would benefit a private club.

The council, however, argues the clubs are valued by residents and some of the new facilities will be open to all. This would be ‘legally enforcable’.

It is again suggested in the latest report that Wasps – in the town since 2002 – could leave unless a new home is found.

A WDC report says: “The club is not historically tied to the area and must consider the stadia of competitors if its aspirations for a stadium in Wycombe cannot be met.”

It is vital to keep the clubs for its youth programmes, encourage sport and grow the local economy and ‘add to the status and prestige of the town’ the council argues.

The council has to change its long-terms plans for the district, its ‘core strategy’ for the stadium to go ahead, and is paying towards this.

The report will be considered by the council’s cabinet on Monday night at 6pm at its offices in Queen Victoria Road. The public are welcome to attend.

Wanderers and Wasps owner Steve Hayes is contributing £250,000 for the feasibility studies.

‘Areas of search’ being considered:

1. M40 Gateway West (Cressex Island).

2. Abbey Barn South.

3. Abbey Barn South and land East of Abbey Barn Lane.

4. Abbey Barn South and RAF Daws Hill.

5. RAF Daws Hill.

6. Town Centre West (Baker Street).

7. Former Compair Site.

8. Adams Park Stadium & adjoining land.

9. Wycombe Air Park 10. M40 Gateway East (Handy Cross).

11. Marlow Gravel Pits.

12. Terriers Farm.

13. Gomm Valley.

14. Abbey Barn North.

15. Slate Meadow.

16. Park Mill Farm.

17. Land North of Longwick Road.

18. Land off Summerlease Road.

19. Land off Wooburn Moor.