WARRINGTON Rugby Union Club is set to return to its historic home at Bridge Lane, Appleton, after receiving support from both the Rugby Football Union (RFU) and Warrington Council.
The news has been welcomed by local borough and parish councillors, who have been campaigning for 15 years for the land to be preserved for sporting use.
Local borough and parish Cllr Brian Axcell said: “Borough and Parish Councillors are delighted that the Bridge Lane field is again going to be used for rugby and, in particular, largely for mini and junior rugby.
“Local councillors have been fighting for many years against development of this site for housing so that it could be preserved for sport and leisure use in the future and so it is good to see this happening at last.
“The young people that the Club mention in their press release would have been denied the opportunity of playing rugby on the field if it had been used for housing as the club previously wanted.
“Over the past 15 years the condition of the field has become pretty appalling with, among other things, many rampant pernicious weeds, including Japanese Knotweed, next to neighbouring housing.
“We now look forward to the ground being maintained properly again so that it is once more an asset for Appleton and for the Cobbs Estate in particular,” added Brian who is pictured (left) with fellow local councillors.
Warrington Rugby Union Club, who are due to start using the ground again in September, played its first match at Bridge Lane in 1961 and this was its home until the move to Warrington Sports Club in 2002, following an act of arson on the former clubhouse.
Since then the old ground has been disused, with the club undertaking basic maintenance of the infrastructure under the terms of its original lease.
But whilst the old ground languished the club has gone from strength to strength – and such has been the growth of its mini and juniors section that a decision has been taken to restore the old ground to provide the capacity and facilities needed.
More than 300 local boys and girls are now enrolled with the club and with the help of the RFU and Warrington Council training and matches by the minis and juniors look set to return to Bride Lane as early as this September. Senior rugby will remain at Warrington Sports Centre for the short term, with the longer-term ambition to install floodlights at Bridge Lane to allow the 1st XV to train there.
Lewis Nunn, Chairman of the rugby club, said: “We are a victim of our own success, which is a nice problem to have, of course. We’ve now got one of the biggest minis and junior set-ups in the north west and it’s great to see so many young kids enjoying sport.
“Unfortunately we’ve got so many that we’ve had to be sending them all over Warrington to get access to sports facilities to train or play matches. By bringing Bridge Lane back into use we can have a proper home for the minis and juniors and it’s a big thanks to the RFU and the council for helping us make it happen. The minis and juniors started back in 2000 with just a handful of children and we’ve just seen one of those very first intake become 1st team captain. With so many in the minis and juniors the future of the club looks very positive indeed.”
Neighbour Alan Jones of Greenfield Avenue, said: “We’re really pleased to see the club come back to Bridge Lane. Having it properly maintained by the club will be a real benefit and I look forward to seeing the kids enjoying the rugby matches there again on a Sunday morning.”
Cllr Russ Bowden, Deputy Leader & Executive Member for Corporate Property at Warrington Council, said: “We’ve been very supportive of the club return to Bridge Lane. There’s been a lot of talk about what the site would be used for after they vacated it back in 2002 and for it to be returned to sports use for local children has to be the best possible outcome for everyone. After many years of involvement over the future of the site, local Councillors and Appleton Parish Council are also delighted that the field is coming back into use and we all look forward to working with the Club’.
A spokesperson from the RFU said: “Warrington RUFC has a fantastic minis and junior set-up and it’s great to see so many young children enjoying the game and being able to do it locally. They are now a very successful club and It’s a tribute to the hard work of the club that so many youngsters are able to access sport and having decent facilities to train and play matches can only see them go from strength to strength and we’re very pleased to be able to support them.”
1 Comment
What a joke! Brian Axcell says; ” Local councillors have been fighting for many years against development of this site for housing so that it could be preserved for sport and leisure use in the future and so it is good to see this happening at last”. Not too long ago local councillors, Mr Axcell included, were supporting the development of this site for a large medical centre due to the developments in Grappenhall Heyes etc having been allowed to be built with no provision in their own area. This would have meant vastly increased traffic in an area which is already so polluted / congested from traffic from the 4 local schools. The Bridge Lane site is Cobb’s Estates open space and should never have been leased to the Rugby Club in the first place! Residents of Cobbs have for years wanted the community centre that should originally have been built – they also want a children’s play area. The playground fell into disrepair and 30 YEARS later there is still no replacement! Now, after holding the community over a barrel with the threat of housing development the Rugby Club & WBC backed by Appleton Parish Council want to use the site for 300 local boys and girls to play rugby. Where are all these ‘local’ kids going to come from? certainly not Cobbs Estate! So, is this site to be the ‘playing field provision’ for the planned 9000+ new homes? Are developers going to get away with not providing facilities on their new estates and rely on Cobbs to provide them as they did in the past with school provision? Do they suspect the new residents of the posh estates won’t relish the traffic problems so they’ll dump them elsewhere? With regard to the long-term plans for floodlights – this idea has been put forward in the past and been strongly objected to by local residents, so why do the Rugby Club now think it’s a possibility? Has there been an indication that such a planning application would be put through ‘on the nod’?