Wrexham AFC has been criticised by a senior councillor for submitting a retrospective planning application for a new sports pavilion at Colliers Park, with the building already almost complete by the time the paperwork landed.
Wrexham County Borough Council's Planning Committee deferred the application after concerns were raised over the site's waste water plans. Cllr Mike Morris, the committee's chair, said: "I do wish that people would get their act in order and not put in retrospective applications just because it suits."
Retrospective bid deferred
The application, filed in August, covers a pavilion in Gresford that the club shares with the Football Association of Wales. Aiden Miller, the club's Chief Strategy Officer, has pushed the project as a single training base intended to improve player welfare and performance for the first team.
Cllr Jeremy Kent, the Mayor of Wrexham for Gresford East and West, and Cllr Beryl Bainbridge, who represents Marford and Hoseley, both sit on the ward affected by the scheme. The committee's decision to defer rather than reject the application gives Natural Resources Wales time to work out whether a connection to the main sewer is actually feasible.
Waste water concerns raised
Natural Resources Wales wrote to the council on September 4 flagging the absence of percolation test results and discharge data for the site. The current plan has waste water treated on-site and discharged into the ground, even though the main sewer sits just 250 metres from the pavilion.
The developer's own figures put waste water output at 2,689 litres a day, a number that excludes kitchen and laundry facilities entirely. Calculations based on DEFRA guidance for 50 users suggest the true figure could top 5,000 litres a day, equivalent to more than half an Olympic-sized swimming pool of wastewater every year. Nearby developments have already been connected to the main sewer using rising mains, and no evidence, engineering justification or cost breakdown has been supplied to explain why Wrexham AFC's site should be treated differently, despite the club clearly having the means to fund a mains connection.
Neighbours' fears over flooding
Andrew Miller, a neighbouring resident, addressed the committee directly about the risks to his property. "Our property sits at the bottom of the hill in a blind valley and surrounded by slopes." he said.
His home sits at the bottom of a hill in what he described as a blind valley, where winter groundwater levels already cause flooding to a nearby pond and field. Natural Resources Wales is now investigating the discharge plan before the committee revisits the application.
Off the pitch, the row lands during a settled period for the club under its ownership. Wrexham sit 14th in the Championship on 7 points from six games, having drawn 1-1 at home to Burnley on Tuesday, 8 September, with Jean Ekomie's fifty-fifth minute equaliser cancelling out an earlier Burnley goal. The club's recent form reads one win, three draws and one defeat, leaving them six points off leaders West Brom, and fans can check the current standings as the season develops. Wrexham's next league outing is at home to Southampton, currently 13th, on Saturday, 19 September, with full details on the club's fixtures page.
