AMs step up Racecourse campaign

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Five north Wales Assembly Members have stepped up the campaign to make Wrexham FC's Racecourse ground the "Millennium Stadium of the north".

They have written to Sports Minister Alun Pugh urging funding.

In December Mr Pugh said he shared the vision put forward by the club and Wrexham Council to make the ground a "flagship facility".

The Welsh Assembly Government said no public investment in the project could be made without a business case.

The five AMs - Plaid Cymru's Janet Ryder, Conservatives Mark Isherwood and Brynle Williams, Liberal Democrat Eleanor Burnham and Forward Wales' John Marek - want an urgent meeting with Mr Pugh and the Racecourse's owners as well as Wrexham Council.

The club and Wrexham Council asked for assembly government funding when they submitted plans for developing the Racecourse into an international venue for sporting events, concerts and conferences last December.

Detailed plan

Wrexham Council has already granted outline planning permission for a multimillion-pound redevelopment scheme at the Racecourse.

They said if the bid succeeded, the council believed the ground could be offered as a training facility for football teams in the 2012 Olympics.

At the time Mr Pugh said he hoped a decision could be made in the new year, subject to a detailed business plan being put forward.

Now the AMs have expressed concern that after the initial public support, the plan appears to have stalled, and they are urging further public investment in the ground.

The politicians write: "The issue for us is simply that north Wales must have an all-seater international stadium capable of hosting major sporting and cultural events.

New owners took over the Racecourse last summer

"It is accepted that many events will go to the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, however, a ground of the size of Wrexham (ie approx. 15,000 seats) must be completed to allow equity of access for such events for all of Wales.

"It is not acceptable that the residents of north Wales have to always travel to south Wales nor is it acceptable that the north should have to 'make do with a stadium which still has a standing area," the letter adds.

Business case

Wrexham FC was bought by a consortium led by local businessman Neville Dickens last August at the end of a difficult period for the club.

The club went into administration in 2004 with debts of more than £4m, and was docked 10 points by the Football League.

Mr Dickens has promised to plough any profits back into the club, and it is thought the stadium's redevelopment is crucial to Wrexham FC's financial future.

A spokesperson for the assembly government said it was very supportive of the Racecourse, "but we cannot commitment on funding unless we receive a business case".

"Any request for public support which is made to the assembly has to be supported by a business case."