Me as well...
[iDear Sirs
I felt I must respond to the letter by Andrew Pearson of Woodlesford over
the proposed development at Newmarket Lane in Stanley, Wakefield by
Yorkcourt Developments, in which it is planned to incorporate a new
stadium for Wakefield Trinity Wildcats.
It would appear that Mr Pearson has received a flyer published by the so
called 'Wakefield Community Conservation Group' and this is what has
clearly prompted his letter to you. This group would in fact appear not
to be 'Community Conservation Group' at all and is in actual fact a
vehicle created by a resident of Newmarket Lane to try and solicit angry
responses and objections to the development, by making widely inaccurate
and potentially libellous claims about the development. This resident is
clearly trying to drum up support from as many people as possible, far and
wide, as he/she quite simply does not want this development near them. It
is very much the definition of a NIMBY objection.
Unfortunately, Mr Pearson (and I suspect many others) have been taken in
by the 'claims' made within this leaflet without any real knowledge of the
scheme or even the history of the site itself.
Let us address the issues raised in Mr Pearson's letter. Firstly, it is
true to say that in the current Wakefield UDP, this area is designated as
green belt. However, this is not a green field site! It is in the main
the reclaimed brown-field industrial land that was previously Newmarket
Colliery. It is hardly a 'green lung' and is mainly scrub land and
unkempt grassed and new wooded area, oh and of course a nice place to
fly-tip, as many who are inclined to this despicable activity have indeed
already done. Not so much 'lots of litter' Mr Pearson, but certainly less
fly-tipping!
Mr Pearson is shocked that, "At a time when we are being encouraged to
live sustainably and to reduce our carbon footprint this proposed
development beggars belief". He clearly does not know, or chooses to
ignore the fact, that the Community Sports Stadium in which Wakefield will
reside will be used during the working week and on Saturdays, as an 800
space park and ride scheme for Wakefield City Centre.
He also states that the Aberford Road (A642) is the main road that
services Pinderfield's hospital. Well given that Newmarket lane is less
than 500 yards away from Junction 30 of the M62, where the majority of the
traffic will originate from to enter the development, it is hardly a long
stretch of road that 'services' the hospital 2 miles further along near
Wakefield. He also fails to point out that the developer will be building
a new signal controlled junction on Aberford Road to service both
Newmarket Lane and also Castle Gate Road. Both these junctions are in
desperate need of improvement and accidents happen on a regular basis,
indeed people have been killed at this junction on several occasions over
the years. Far from creating "a massive rise in accidents" I suspect it
will in fact see a massive drop in accident statics along this section of
Aberford Road.
Why will Newmarket Lane and Watergate "be a 'rat run', with rugby fans,
construction workers and HGVs taking shortcuts". Shortcuts from where Mr
Pearson? The majority of the vehicles are going to access and egress from
the site from Junction 30 of the M62. HGV's and construction traffic will
be banned from any other route and will have to enter the site this way,
the only Rugby fans that will ever come from Methley towards the
development will be Castleford Tigers fans, and to be honest most of them
will come down the M62 as well, as it is quicker!
Lets look at the real facts about this development and not the ones 'made
up' by a NIMBY resident.
The proposed development is expected to increase to the visitor economy
impact on the Wakefield District by 3%, a value of some £10m
It is anticipated it will create over 2000 new employment opportunities
and 256 temporary construction jobs.
There will be a NET gain of 8.96 hectares of tree, woodland and scrub
habitat as a result of the development. Grassland will only decrease by 4
hectares. A wild-flower meadow of 1,64 hectares, 16 new water
bodies/ponds, a swamp and 632m of ditch habitat will be formed as part of
the development.
And the list goes on!
This is welcome development in the area by all but a few NIMBY's, hence
the reason they are bending the real truth to support their objections.
For readers looking for a balanced view of the scheme, as well as the
Wakefield CCG site, I suggest they also visit the Wakefield Stadium Action
Group site at
www.swag-online.co.uk/
Finally, I notice that Mr Pearson lives in Woodlesford in Leeds, so I am
not sure why he is so upset about a development outside his district and
which he at least 2 miles away from? I on the other hand, live in
Stanley, less than a mile from the development and no, I don't support
Wakefield Trinity Wildcats, I am a Leeds Rhino's season ticket holder
