1) how long would an alternative access road need to be
2) what would it therefore cost
3) is there a strategic need to join wherever it would come out to the industrial estate or houses beyond or is this road exclusively for the football club
4) how would it be primarily paid for a) club funds b) public funds c) by an enabling residential development
These points on the access road are key though, Rob commissioned someone to work on it I believe so there may be plans being drawn up. There’s a lot of green land that would need to be built on.
I reckon it'll be A, shorter and feeds onto the A40. It all depends on Dashwood & what land he is willing to sell / give up. Bear in mind that it might be an 'access road' but the property developers will start circling like Vultures and Dashwood won't want the hassle
Characteristically excellent fishing from @DevC whose laptop is probably red hot now as he crafts his demolition of the biters with planning regs/law/business plans etc etc
"A" would be better if you could also improve the access off Chapel Lane via Toweridge Lane as that would in effect create 3 access directions (West Wycombe, Chapel Lane and existing Hillbottom Rd).
Frankly I think the cost would be prohibitively expensive even if the planning obstacles could be overcome , but you never know!
Even ignoring planning issues, Building roads though is horrendously expensive - I believe A road figure is north of £2m per mile. OK you might be able to reduce specification a bit but this link would have to cope with high volume of traffic in a short timespan on gamedays in winter. Hard to see how this could possibly be funded without a housing estate along its length paying for it.
New Motorway junctions are eyewatering.
It seems hard to imagine this can ever happen in the real world however nice the idea sounds in abstract.
There's also the issue that the terrain we'd be working with in suggestion A and B above is clearly not flat which is going to add to the cost I imagine.
I wonder if there isn't an option C which comes round the back of the away end, behind the industrial estate and then joins up with Lane End Road. Would surely be miles cheaper but maybe wouldn't fundamentally solve the problem. It would at least turn the current cul-de-sac into a crescent though.
Very interested to hear where the Couhigs get to with this. I tend to agree with @DevC above - it strikes me that the cost is going to be so prohibitive we'll be forced into looking at a new stadium if we truly want to solve this issue.
Even if you do manage to build the miracle access road, surely there's a limit to how much you can do with AP. Would it not be better to move to a new stadium which you can fully futureproof?
The issue with a new stadium though is that I don't think there are any realistic sites near the town centre we could actually use? So we'd be building another stadium on the edge of the town - at which point you wonder what is the advantage vs Adams Park?
Somewhere close to Handy Cross would clearly be the best out of town option, but not sure there's a site there either.
Yeah, Rob's apparent confidence about being able to build a new ground "in Wycombe" seems a little misplaced. Surely somewhere similarly out-of-town as AP but with much better access would be fine? Still easier said than done in any case, though!
Compulsory purchase order on the flats next to the hospital, and build a stadium there? Don't know why no-one thought of that before. Great for access to the town centre and train station.
Enough room on the Rye for a quality new stadium, and still leave numerous sports pitches, and beauty spots, dead central to town and transport facilities, will rejuvinate the town on matchdays. Plymouth and Aldershot both have grounds situated in parks.
The lease money that Wanderers would pay, could help improve facilities on the Rye, Be brave Wanderers and the council, turn the tide on out of town stadiums, and save the town centre.
Comments
Sorry to ask again but does seem a key point
1) how long would an alternative access road need to be
2) what would it therefore cost
3) is there a strategic need to join wherever it would come out to the industrial estate or houses beyond or is this road exclusively for the football club
4) how would it be primarily paid for a) club funds b) public funds c) by an enabling residential development
Who do you think will be answering such questions on here?
These points on the access road are key though, Rob commissioned someone to work on it I believe so there may be plans being drawn up. There’s a lot of green land that would need to be built on.
In the name of idle speculation, which potential route is preferable in this image. A or B ?
B. With a decent sized car park at the M40 end and regular shuttles.
The initial plans probably look similar to this 😃
Where will the Chairboylift™️ start?
If someone grants you a "lol" will you ditch this one 😉
You all think I'm joking, don't you?
Someone didn't finish toasting their giant panini
Reroute the live wires and those electricity pylons are ready and waiting to be converted.
My thoughts exactly!
I reckon it'll be A, shorter and feeds onto the A40. It all depends on Dashwood & what land he is willing to sell / give up. Bear in mind that it might be an 'access road' but the property developers will start circling like Vultures and Dashwood won't want the hassle
Characteristically excellent fishing from @DevC whose laptop is probably red hot now as he crafts his demolition of the biters with planning regs/law/business plans etc etc
"A" would be better if you could also improve the access off Chapel Lane via Toweridge Lane as that would in effect create 3 access directions (West Wycombe, Chapel Lane and existing Hillbottom Rd).
Frankly I think the cost would be prohibitively expensive even if the planning obstacles could be overcome , but you never know!
B, straight to the motorway surely would be better
A and B then, call it plan C, 😂
Even ignoring planning issues, Building roads though is horrendously expensive - I believe A road figure is north of £2m per mile. OK you might be able to reduce specification a bit but this link would have to cope with high volume of traffic in a short timespan on gamedays in winter. Hard to see how this could possibly be funded without a housing estate along its length paying for it.
New Motorway junctions are eyewatering.
It seems hard to imagine this can ever happen in the real world however nice the idea sounds in abstract.
There's also the issue that the terrain we'd be working with in suggestion A and B above is clearly not flat which is going to add to the cost I imagine.
I wonder if there isn't an option C which comes round the back of the away end, behind the industrial estate and then joins up with Lane End Road. Would surely be miles cheaper but maybe wouldn't fundamentally solve the problem. It would at least turn the current cul-de-sac into a crescent though.
Very interested to hear where the Couhigs get to with this. I tend to agree with @DevC above - it strikes me that the cost is going to be so prohibitive we'll be forced into looking at a new stadium if we truly want to solve this issue.
Even if you do manage to build the miracle access road, surely there's a limit to how much you can do with AP. Would it not be better to move to a new stadium which you can fully futureproof?
The issue with a new stadium though is that I don't think there are any realistic sites near the town centre we could actually use? So we'd be building another stadium on the edge of the town - at which point you wonder what is the advantage vs Adams Park?
Somewhere close to Handy Cross would clearly be the best out of town option, but not sure there's a site there either.
Doesn’t this leave the Trust with a much less valuable asset?
Yeah, Rob's apparent confidence about being able to build a new ground "in Wycombe" seems a little misplaced. Surely somewhere similarly out-of-town as AP but with much better access would be fine? Still easier said than done in any case, though!
Last time I was in Wycombe town centre the high street was completely empty and half the shops had shut. Can't we just build it there?
Compulsory purchase order on the flats next to the hospital, and build a stadium there? Don't know why no-one thought of that before. Great for access to the town centre and train station.
There’d be a bit of a slope.
Enough room on the Rye for a quality new stadium, and still leave numerous sports pitches, and beauty spots, dead central to town and transport facilities, will rejuvinate the town on matchdays. Plymouth and Aldershot both have grounds situated in parks.
The lease money that Wanderers would pay, could help improve facilities on the Rye, Be brave Wanderers and the council, turn the tide on out of town stadiums, and save the town centre.
Not sure a flood plain is the best site for a new ground
Not to mention the state of the traffic!
No thanks, let's not dumb a massive concrete building in the main park of the town!
What's people's definition on being "outside the town" by the way? With someone suggesting Handy Cross is outside.
Does it literally have to be within half a mile of the town hall or something?