Racecourse plans are still on track

By MATT SIMMS

17 April 2008

THE door to public sector funding for Wrexham's Racecourse ground could be opened if a "new vision" for the stadium is developed, says the town's Assembly Member.

Council officers, Assembly heritage minister Rhodri Glyn Thomas and Lesley Griffiths AM met in Cardiff yesterday to discuss the ground's future.

The meeting had been arranged to help secure the future of the ground in light of Wrexham FC's potential relegation from the Football League.

Miss Griffiths said: "We had a very constructive meeting and I was pleased the minister listened to our concerns about the future of the ground.

"The council officers and I had the opportunity to put to him our belief that The Racecourse should continue as an important strategic venue, for the North Wales region as a whole.

"As the Welsh Assembly Government has indicated before, there needs to be a more dynamic and publicly focused dimension to The Racecourse ground of the future.

"For this to happen, there needs to be a more robust link between the stadium and the wider community through regeneration, social inclusion and economic development projects – both in Wrexham and within the rest of the North Wales region.

"If this kind of new vision can be incorporated into future plans for the venue, then I believe the door for public sector funding, could well be opened and investment could come to The Racecourse.

"The minister recognised fully the need for a stadium in Wrexham to host international sporting events. He wants to see young people have the opportunity, in the future, to see their sporting heroes playing at The Racecourse. That is an aspiration we all share."

Earlier this week council leader Aled Roberts said he wanted to see the council working alongside the club and taking a bigger role in the redevelopment of the ground to provide a 15,000 seater stadium.

He claimed everything ought to be done to ensure The Racecourse continued to be developed as the "Millennium Stadium of the North" – even if the club is relegated from the Football League, and co-owner Nev Dickens said plans to redevelop the stadium would remain on track regardless as to whether the club was relegated.