Training Centre

[Brandnewtorugby]

Well, we will here the decision on 21st Oct.

If this goes through, as it should, this will be excellent for the club. Finally a base they can use and invest in and not have to pay out rent for. This will be massive for recruitment and retention. A great use of the windfall money from the CVC sale.

It really will cement roots in the area and has some excellent restaurants etc. They can host events there such as season ticket open training, or announcements, potentially even academy or A-team games.

[WussFan]

Well, possibly. However...

- the statement was published by Wasps therefore they are accountable for the veracity of the data
- I am not aware Wasps have sought to correct this error

[Vespula Vulgaris]

Interestingly I have just got off the phone after a long chat with one of the board members at Wasps about this issue.  There are a few facts that seem to be either missing or distorted here.

A large packet of land and buildings was put up for sale by WCG. The majority of it was purchased by a large real estate company based in London. 

Wasps only approached WCG once the facility was already on the market.

The closure of the site was a decision taken by WCG due to the significant financial losses it was making before the purchase.

[baldpaul101]

I have to say that this a slightly sad thread. We ask for local feedback, two non wasps fans give us their opinion. Some people don't like it.
Now I am not convinced by some of the things Wussfan has said. Some of his comments about the Ricoh are miles away form being correct. He's admitted he doesn't like wasps so will use terms like cuckoo club etc so his opinion will be biased. But then so is the opinion of all the wasps fans on here.
But more importantly wasps have failed in their PR if local people feel that way about them, even if they are wrong (and as others have pointed out, I can totally see why locals are not happy). It should have been handled MUCH better than this.

However that fact that we have had a adult discussion with (mostly) no name calling is great. Thanks Wussfan for your honest comments. We are not going to agree on all of what you say but we can now more understand why you are not happy.

[Brandnewtorugby]

Interestingly I have just got off the phone after a long chat with one of the board members at Wasps about this issue.  There are a few facts that seem to be either missing or distorted here.

A large packet of land and buildings was put up for sale by WCG. The majority of it was purchased by a large real estate company based in London. 

Wasps only approached WCG once the facility was already on the market.

The closure of the site was a decision taken by WCG due to the significant financial losses it was making before the purchase.

That is very interesting, thanks for sharing.

[Neils]

Interestingly I have just got off the phone after a long chat with one of the board members at Wasps about this issue.  There are a few facts that seem to be either missing or distorted here.

A large packet of land and buildings was put up for sale by WCG. The majority of it was purchased by a large real estate company based in London. 

Wasps only approached WCG once the facility was already on the market.

The closure of the site was a decision taken by WCG due to the significant financial losses it was making before the purchase.

VV - kind of fits with me. As I have obliquely said in the early/mid naughties I had a team survey the site for Central Gov. During the two days I spent there the price dropped from £3m to a lower figure. We recommended use of the site but higher political animals decided against it (the Blair mob were never keen on bad press they could see coming). Strangely I was re-offered the site just before the financial crash at the original figure. My point being the owners have tried to divest themselves of the site for ages. I was very surprised when it featured on here.

[WussFan]

VV sadly this is not verifiable and in some cases not supported by what is known and in public domain.

WCG alleged they had offered the site to numerous parties but have not been able to substantiate that claim in any way.

The local authorities and WCG are absolutely as much at fault as Wasps are, if not more so.

In many ways this is a massive own goal and had this been put together as a package it could have benefited the community, sorted Wasps for a training base and relieved WCG of what they regarded as a burden. Unfortunately it seems to be that the approach of Wasps and the other local authorities has prevented this. There is, for example, no excuse for what looks like a malicious early closure. Why make the situation worse but excluding people early?

[bigad82]

VV sadly this is not verifiable and in some cases not supported by what is known and in public domain.

WCG alleged they had offered the site to numerous parties but have not been able to substantiate that claim in any way.

The local authorities and WCG are absolutely as much at fault as Wasps are, if not more so.

In many ways this is a massive own goal and had this been put together as a package it could have benefited the community, sorted Wasps for a training base and relieved WCG of what they regarded as a burden. Unfortunately it seems to be that the approach of Wasps and the other local authorities has prevented this. There is, for example, no excuse for what looks like a malicious early closure. Why make the situation worse but excluding people early?

Cheaper to shut it than keep it open.

[Vespula Vulgaris]

Cheaper to shut it than keep it open.

Exactly this.  If WCG wanted shut of it because it was losing money to keep it open, they they shut it to stop losing money, and then attempt to sell it to someone who was willing to take it on.

The fact that Wasps bought it and agreed to go back to providing some community use rather than flatten it for housing, or repurpose it into a massive care home like the college building itself should be a cause for celebration.

[baldpaul101]

I think thats pushing it a bit VV.
they might be relieved that it won't be housing or anything unpleasant, but I can't see those locals who used the centre, how ever many or few there may have been, celebrating !

[WussFan]

It was never going to be housing. That threat isn’t present and has never featured as part of any of the discussion.

There is very very little new build in Henley. Compare it relative to the rest of the local area and it stands out for that.

The land would be 8 to 10 times more valuable for housing and if that were likely to get approval it wouldn’t have been sold to Wasps.

The narrative of Wasps or housing and it was closing anyway have no basis. It’s conjecture and wishful thinking to justify Wasps behaviour.

[Vespula Vulgaris]

It was never going to be housing. That threat isn’t present and has never featured as part of any of the discussion.

There is very very little new build in Henley. Compare it relative to the rest of the local area and it stands out for that.

The land would be 8 to 10 times more valuable for housing and if that were likely to get approval it wouldn’t have been sold to Wasps.

The narrative of Wasps or housing and it was closing anyway have no basis. It’s conjecture and wishful thinking to justify Wasps behaviour.

So what is happening to the rest of the site, the majority of it that went to Octopus Healthcare?

Also when you say "it was closing anyway", surely you mean "it was closed anyway"?

[bigad82]

My local pub was closed by the brewery.
The Facebook page got over a 1000 people calling for it to reopen.
I used the pub a lot.
About 60 of the 1000 used it on occasions.
That is why it shut.
That is why SCG decided to sell up.
I got over not using the pub quicker than I thought I would.
The same will happen here.

[hookender]

As I mentioned earlier there is in the local development plan a proposal for 61 new houses at the site( including 16 social homes). Now it doesn’t state whether this on the carehome or wasps part or a separate bit , but is there is obviously more to it than we all know.

I have to admire the local community though for the way they object to any planning applications over the years. I found an article where someone hired two coaches to take people free to a planning meeting to object to some housing.

The one that made me laugh though was a past newsletter with an article objecting to Costa coffee opening an outlet and bemoaning of losing business affecting other retailers. Also said that business had already been lost due to extra parking restrictions coming in.

In the same newsletter the local were objecting to a new car park on edge of town,which would have solved problem.

Wonder if either went ahead.

[RogerE]

It could be worse for the local residents.

I used to be coach at a gymnastics Club that used the sporting facilities of the local college (now University). Also usig the facilities were a couple of football clubs, an archery club, a hockey club and several other amateur clubs (including a couple of disabled sport ones). The college decided they no longer wanted the site, and entered into discussions with a property development company, without letting anyone else know and also went into discussion with the local council about developing the site - all under the cloak of a non-disclosure agreement.

First thing all the Clubs, and local residents, knew was when a solicitors letter arrived giving us 2 all weeks notice to quit - the same day a planning application for loads of houses was submitted.

Now the locals face traffic chaos at rush hours, the local schools are all over-subscribed, locals cannot get appointments for the local GPs, and, like all such developments, there are more cars than parking places, meaning cars parked on paverments and reducing road width.

<edit> prior to this happening it was regarded as being on the edge of the develoiped area, and could not be regarded as "infill".

Nowadays, with the changes to planning law that came-in in September it is much easier to get planning permission, especially on appeal. According to one of my coaches, who is also a planning officer, "green belt /AONB is no longer safe from development- you need also be a SSI or National Park", which is one of the reasons why moves have started to have the Chilterns Hills declared a National Park.