Wycombe District Council: "We want Wasps to stay"

WDC: 'We want Wasps to stay" WDC: 'We want Wasps to stay"

COUNCIL bosses say they are willing to talk to London Wasps in a bid to keep them playing in the district, after the club was put up for sale.

Wasps owner Steve Hayes put the Aviva Premiership side on the market yesterday, just weeks after Wycombe District Council’s Cabinet axed proposals for a stadium and sports village at Wycombe Air Park, Booker.

WDC said it wants Wasps to continue to play their trade within the district but admits the future of the two-time Heineken Cup winners’ is up in the air.

In a statement, the council said: “We would really like the club to stay in the district and we've worked with the club to look at a range of alternatives. However, it is for the club to decide what works best for them.

“We're not aware of the details of the discussions around the sale of Wasps, but nothing can be ruled in or ruled out.

“We're sure Steve Hayes will have thought long and hard before putting the club up for sale, and will have made the decision within the context of the club as a business - we hope it will bring future success and wish the club good luck for the future."

The authority said it learnt lessons from the stadium saga but stands by its decision to pull the plug on the failed sports village project.

WDC added: “There was a lot of local opposition to the plans and when the leadership of the council changed, we felt in the current climate it was important to focus energies on other local projects.”

Cllr Jean Teesdale - Cabinet Member for Democratic, Legal and Policy - fiercely fought against the sports village and insists the council made the right decision.

But she hopes a compromise can be reached so Wasps remain in High Wycombe.

She said: “The Booker thing is dead for all the reasons we gave. Nothing has changed, the infrastructure, the location was not right.

“Both clubs are struggling somewhat and judging from the attendance figures they’ve have had this year, I’m not convinced a new stadium is justified.

“I’ve never had a problem with Wasps, it was just where they wanted to go - I wish they could find a Brownfield site as I’m not against them moving grounds.

"I fought against Adams Park as well, as the access was not appropriate, it has been a big problem for a long time.

“No-one wants to see sport clubs leave or stop running, we encourage sport in Wycombe, I just hope we can find a solution so that Wasps can stay in Wycombe.”

See links below to read more on the proposed sale of Wasps and past stories on the stadium saga.

Comments(30)

miccles says...
4:18pm Thu 6 Oct 11

WDC, you are playing right into his hands, this is what he wants, people to feel sorry for him, and you are doing just that.

chris740 says...
4:42pm Thu 6 Oct 11

let the little boy stamp his feet with another council .

let him walk

washondo says...
6:02pm Thu 6 Oct 11

Don't we have a rugby club in High Wycombe already?

yog says...
6:54pm Thu 6 Oct 11

What are the range of alternatives that the Tories have offered him?

ivor says...
7:07pm Thu 6 Oct 11

The powers that be may want them to stay but I feel there are an awful lot of people who would like to seem them go.
~
After the nightmare the residents of Booker were put through with the bungled stadium its best they do leave Wycombe after all having them festering away over at Sands is not good for the town.
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The sooner they rugby team leave the better.
~
Have you read Ivor’s blog today? Click on the “BLOGS” link at the top of the page.

geoffW says...
7:18pm Thu 6 Oct 11

NO MORE MONEY.

Eachban says...
8:24pm Thu 6 Oct 11

There is indeed another rugby team in High Wycombe, a great local amateur side with teams right down to the smallest of juniors. Wasps are at the other end of the spectrum. They are comparable only in that they play the same game.
.
The Booker adventure as far a I can se was primarily a Steve Hayes thing, the man who took over Wasps in 2008. For those not in the know (like VI Ivor) that means Wasps were in Wycombe for close to a decade before he got involved. Of course it would be totally wrong to allow inconvenient things like facts get in the way of a good spurt of bile, eh?
.
There is every likelihood a new owner would result in Wasps leaving Wycombe, and Wycombe will benefit not one jot from that. Of course, if you don't care then you don't care. But if it is right that Booker should not have happened at least in part because it would be wrong to destroy a minority group interest (aviators), why is it now right that another minority group interest should be dismissed so casually?
.
For the record I was never convinced that the Booker adventure Steve Hayes embarked upon ever made any real sense for a whole raft of reasons. But that is now history, and it looks like Wasps playing rugby at the highest level in High Wycombe may soon be history too.

bobby698 says...
8:33pm Thu 6 Oct 11

I simply must ask this question: Why are so many people in Wycombe against having Wasps here? I cannot fathom this Boondock rhetoric that a lot of the bloggers give out.
Forget Steve Hayes; his motives in all this are now all too clear. What concerns me is that Wycombe is happily prepared to lose a Premiership Rugby Club, one of only twenty in England. Yes, I agree that this seasons attendances are greatly down but we canot forget the current economic climate.
We are lucky to have Wasps here; it involves itself with the local community and has provided much-needed local employment.
Or is it just that Wycombe residents cannot accept change? Remember the Eden Project opposition? Not a peep now...
Come on, Wycombe, tell me why you want Wasps out!!

readerabc says...
8:39pm Thu 6 Oct 11

wasps- no problem with them being here

steve hayes- go now!!

ivor says...
8:45pm Thu 6 Oct 11

Re the comments of bobby698 at 8:33pm
~
QUOTE: “Come on, Wycombe, tell me why you want Wasps out!!”
~
In a nutshell, they failed to embrace our town. They should have renamed themselves “Wycombe Wasps”.
~
Also the Booker stadium wasted an awful lot of time and public money to get nowhere not to mention worrying an awful lot of residents.
~
Whilst losing such a prestigious team would be a shame it's just no good having them festering away at Sands indeed only this week a news article appeared saying “a new stadium would be viable”. If they leave they will worry us no more....
~
Have you read Ivor’s blog today? Click on the “BLOGS” link at the top of the page.

Eachban says...
9:30pm Thu 6 Oct 11

VI Ivor clings resolutely to the ignorant belief that "Wasps" wanted the Booker stadium. Is it not sufficiently clear that Steve Hayes wanted Booker? And as sole owner of both Wasps and Wanderers both corporate entities (look it up Ivor) were compelled to publicly support the proposal as it was de facto the corporate strategy because it was the owner's strategy.
.
I seriously doubt there is any festering going on in Sands. Adults move on.
.
A new owner may result in Wasps doing the same.

gpn01 says...
10:06pm Thu 6 Oct 11

I'm sure that the "people of High Wycombe" aren't against London Wasps at all. What they are against is FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND POUNDS of ratepayers money being spent on pandering to the demands of the privately owned businesses (WWFC, LWHL & WSDL) all of whom are owned by a single individual. IF this tripartite group had stated that they wanted a new stadium and were willing to pay for it themselves AND would build it somewhere that didn't affect Green Belt AND would be sympathetic to exisitng residents then it could have been a different story. Oh, AND if they hadn't expected the Council to spend a further THIRTY ONE MILLION POUNDS on building a stadium!

gpn01 says...
10:10pm Thu 6 Oct 11

yog wrote:
What are the range of alternatives that the Tories have offered him?
could it be a ploy to justify expanding Adams Park in return for the Council not refusing planning permission?
.
Perhaps the hope is that the Council would support the idea of an additional access road being built?
.
Maybe there's a desire for the Council to contribute towards the amount (£7M?) needed to increase Adam's Park to 17,500?

dr death says...
6:22am Fri 7 Oct 11

hayes just sell the wasps pack your bags no one wants you here your acting like a spoilt child, i will pay your bus fare if need be

usvelt says...
7:57am Fri 7 Oct 11

No problem with wasps or wanderers. Stay or go for either of them, I do not care.
What I do care about is my tax money going to fund them, no thanks.
If you have to Hayes please just go and stop acting like a spoilt brat, it didnt work. Dim witted Clark may have been sucked in by you for one reason or another but the rest can see through you.

Phredd says...
8:16am Fri 7 Oct 11

I want them to stay. I want Wanderers to stay.
.
I, like many others who who have supported them for far longer than their arrival in Wycombe, do not like the epithet "London" that was only added to distinguish the professional team from the amateur team of the same name. They will always be "Wasps" as far as we are concerned.
.
I didn't want the Steve Hayes inspired Stadium/Sports Village using taxpayers money to bankroll his enterprises.
.
I have no problems with WDC helping find a new stadium site, provided they don't pump too much money into it, beyond the basic identification stage.
.
I do want WDC to "pump money" into amateur community sports projects throughout the District - not just a Sports Centre or a centralised Sports Village.

spottydotty says...
8:48am Fri 7 Oct 11

I love it when people save me typing time, so: "yeh - wot Phredd said".

showells says...
9:32am Fri 7 Oct 11

If the council really wanted Wasps to stay they could do little things like altering the phasing of the traffic lights at the junction of the M40 on match days. There are always huge traffic jams there which irritate match goers and locals alike.

A VOTER says...
9:51am Fri 7 Oct 11

showells wrote:
If the council really wanted Wasps to stay they could do little things like altering the phasing of the traffic lights at the junction of the M40 on match days. There are always huge traffic jams there which irritate match goers and locals alike.
You are making a huge assumption that there is intelligent life within the walls of WDC...

efbog says...
9:53am Fri 7 Oct 11

Seems enevitable that Wasp's will go from High Wycombe if they are to survive as a Premiership Club, lets hope they find a new and well funded owner. The loss of Wasp's is a lost opportunity
But was High Wycombe ever in a position to hold onto a Premiership Club? The topography of the area limits traditional development along with an old and limiting road infrastructure.
We see a plan for the centre of High Wycombe but where is the plan for the whole town and surrounding area.
Where is the plan to attract new employers and new facilities. Seems the clear message to all is leave well alone and go somewhere else.

JimBean says...
10:31am Fri 7 Oct 11

I don't see everyones problems here with the wasps and the sports complex plans, yes the council and us taxpayers will be paying out for the facilities but its us as residents who will benefit with modern and top of the range sports facilities. Whenever I walk through the town centre you see the young generation with their McBellies hanging out, we need decent sports facilities to get us fit again.

Do Premiership football clubs pay 100% of the build costs for their stadiums? West Ham are taking the olympic stadium paid for that? We did!

Id rather Wasps stay we get the sporting facilities and progress as a town

gpn01 says...
12:17pm Fri 7 Oct 11

JimBean wrote:
I don't see everyones problems here with the wasps and the sports complex plans, yes the council and us taxpayers will be paying out for the facilities but its us as residents who will benefit with modern and top of the range sports facilities. Whenever I walk through the town centre you see the young generation with their McBellies hanging out, we need decent sports facilities to get us fit again. Do Premiership football clubs pay 100% of the build costs for their stadiums? West Ham are taking the olympic stadium paid for that? We did! Id rather Wasps stay we get the sporting facilities and progress as a town
Perhaps there's some mix-up here?
.
The Council has a plan for developing sports facilities in the district, including replacing/revamping the existing sports centre.
.
That's completely different from the project that was stopped in July which was for WDC to pay for the building of a rugby & football stadium. Any additional facilities intended for the community would have to be paid for seperately. This was not included as part of the £31M that the professional clubs were expecting WDC to fork out.

JimBean says...
12:33pm Fri 7 Oct 11

gpn01 wrote:
JimBean wrote: I don't see everyones problems here with the wasps and the sports complex plans, yes the council and us taxpayers will be paying out for the facilities but its us as residents who will benefit with modern and top of the range sports facilities. Whenever I walk through the town centre you see the young generation with their McBellies hanging out, we need decent sports facilities to get us fit again. Do Premiership football clubs pay 100% of the build costs for their stadiums? West Ham are taking the olympic stadium paid for that? We did! Id rather Wasps stay we get the sporting facilities and progress as a town
Perhaps there's some mix-up here? . The Council has a plan for developing sports facilities in the district, including replacing/revamping the existing sports centre. . That's completely different from the project that was stopped in July which was for WDC to pay for the building of a rugby & football stadium. Any additional facilities intended for the community would have to be paid for seperately. This was not included as part of the £31M that the professional clubs were expecting WDC to fork out.
To be honest ive not seen the plans for the sports village in a while, the last plans I saw were up on the land next to booker air field. Where the stadium would be along with a sports village. Have new plans been discussed and released?

My personal opinion would be to seperate the stadium and the sports village. I would demoilsh the current sports centre. Build the stadium on that site so its close to the M40 junction to stop match day traffic driving through the town centre and also only a small taxi journey from the railway station. Then look for a site for a good sports facility that will offer everything that Handy Cross offers but more.

Just feel we need to keep hold of the wasps in wycombe and as I said in my previous comment we need to progress and develop as a large town.

TheHorsesMouth says...
5:43pm Fri 7 Oct 11

Phredd wrote:
I want them to stay. I want Wanderers to stay.
.
I, like many others who who have supported them for far longer than their arrival in Wycombe, do not like the epithet "London" that was only added to distinguish the professional team from the amateur team of the same name. They will always be "Wasps" as far as we are concerned.
.
I didn't want the Steve Hayes inspired Stadium/Sports Village using taxpayers money to bankroll his enterprises.
.
I have no problems with WDC helping find a new stadium site, provided they don't pump too much money into it, beyond the basic identification stage.
.
I do want WDC to "pump money" into amateur community sports projects throughout the District - not just a Sports Centre or a centralised Sports Village.
Right said Phredd

TheHorsesMouth says...
5:48pm Fri 7 Oct 11

JimBean wrote:
gpn01 wrote:
JimBean wrote: I don't see everyones problems here with the wasps and the sports complex plans, yes the council and us taxpayers will be paying out for the facilities but its us as residents who will benefit with modern and top of the range sports facilities. Whenever I walk through the town centre you see the young generation with their McBellies hanging out, we need decent sports facilities to get us fit again. Do Premiership football clubs pay 100% of the build costs for their stadiums? West Ham are taking the olympic stadium paid for that? We did! Id rather Wasps stay we get the sporting facilities and progress as a town
Perhaps there's some mix-up here? . The Council has a plan for developing sports facilities in the district, including replacing/revamping the existing sports centre. . That's completely different from the project that was stopped in July which was for WDC to pay for the building of a rugby & football stadium. Any additional facilities intended for the community would have to be paid for seperately. This was not included as part of the £31M that the professional clubs were expecting WDC to fork out.
To be honest ive not seen the plans for the sports village in a while, the last plans I saw were up on the land next to booker air field. Where the stadium would be along with a sports village. Have new plans been discussed and released?

My personal opinion would be to seperate the stadium and the sports village. I would demoilsh the current sports centre. Build the stadium on that site so its close to the M40 junction to stop match day traffic driving through the town centre and also only a small taxi journey from the railway station. Then look for a site for a good sports facility that will offer everything that Handy Cross offers but more.

Just feel we need to keep hold of the wasps in wycombe and as I said in my previous comment we need to progress and develop as a large town.
Mr Bean, you've not done much with traffic management? A Stadium that close to the M40 on matchdays would totally stuff the M40 Junc. 4.
...
Other than that to build a replacement sports centre elsewhere first, close handy cross and re-development the area sounds sensible, if only the traffic flow on the M40 could be managed successfully,....don
't think on the face of it, it could.
...
Check the traffic sites for the M4 at Reading on a large fixture day for London Irish?
...

TheHorsesMouth says...
5:48pm Fri 7 Oct 11

Mr Bean, you've not done much with traffic management? A Stadium that close to the M40 on matchdays would totally stuff the M40 Junc. 4.
...
Other than that to build a replacement sports centre elsewhere first, close handy cross and re-development the area sounds sensible, if only the traffic flow on the M40 could be managed successfully,....don
't think on the face of it, it could.
...
Check the traffic sites for the M4 at Reading on a large fixture day for London Irish?
...

TheHorsesMouth says...
5:49pm Fri 7 Oct 11

Sorry about the multiple adds, I keep getting a server error :-(
...

washondo says...
12:15pm Sat 8 Oct 11

Phredd for council.
~
And can you find some way to get our half million pounds back. I believe it's been "transferred" to the Handy Cross project ????????
~
How does that work? Auditor!

ImpeturbableLawrence says...
11:16pm Sat 8 Oct 11

bobby698 wrote:
I simply must ask this question: Why are so many people in Wycombe against having Wasps here? I cannot fathom this Boondock rhetoric that a lot of the bloggers give out. Forget Steve Hayes; his motives in all this are now all too clear. What concerns me is that Wycombe is happily prepared to lose a Premiership Rugby Club, one of only twenty in England. Yes, I agree that this seasons attendances are greatly down but we canot forget the current economic climate. We are lucky to have Wasps here; it involves itself with the local community and has provided much-needed local employment. Or is it just that Wycombe residents cannot accept change? Remember the Eden Project opposition? Not a peep now... Come on, Wycombe, tell me why you want Wasps out!!
A lot of people feel distant goodwill towards Wasps - we don't want to see them go - we just don't want to pay for a thinly-disguised commercial venture which may or may not secure their presence here.

washondo says...
7:09pm Tue 11 Oct 11

bobby698 wrote:
I simply must ask this question: Why are so many people in Wycombe against having Wasps here? I cannot fathom this Boondock rhetoric that a lot of the bloggers give out.
Forget Steve Hayes; his motives in all this are now all too clear. What concerns me is that Wycombe is happily prepared to lose a Premiership Rugby Club, one of only twenty in England. Yes, I agree that this seasons attendances are greatly down but we canot forget the current economic climate.
We are lucky to have Wasps here; it involves itself with the local community and has provided much-needed local employment.
Or is it just that Wycombe residents cannot accept change? Remember the Eden Project opposition? Not a peep now...
Come on, Wycombe, tell me why you want Wasps out!!
Who's not paying attention then?
~
I don't read many bloggers wanting Wasps to leave. I do detect a certain ambivalence, given the track record of the current owner.
~
"Local community involvement, much-needed employment" = minimal PR exercise. Do buck up.
~
I would also, however, question your contention that Eden has been a huge success. Don't hold your breath.
~
By the way, flattery will get you nowhere.
~
Wycombe resident.

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