Council set to ‘start again’ on search to find use for Groves school – waits on football club to decide future of training ground plans

Wrexham Council look likely to restart the hunt for a new owner for the Groves site, in part of in full, depending on if the football club still require the eastern section for a training ground.

Last week we asked First Minister Mark Drakeford about the Groves site, and he told Wrexham.com that his government would “want to talk to them about it and see if there’s a part we can play in it” if the council came up with any fresh initiatives for the site.

Yesterday in reference to that interview, Chief Officer Housing & Economy Steve Bayley commented on the future of the site from the council’s point of view as well as referencing the former interested party formally for the first time, “We announced publicly last week that the deal with Apollo Medi and its delivery vehicle, the Trust, had fallen through.”

“The the wider site, which are under the heads of terms with the Wrexham Supporters Trust is still in place, we are yet to decide with the Trust what happens to that, depending on the wider aspirations of the football club itself.

“So we’ll see. We will be reporting back to our members with a view to remarketing the site and looking for alternative uses for the building and for the wider site if it is not required by the football club.”

“We don’t have any predetermined idea about what it could be used for, it will be subject to planning anyway. The reason the council is disposing of it is because it has no service interest or need for the building.”

“We would put that to the private sector or the third sector to see if it has any ideas. Last time there were a range of interesting ideas, but the one members picked was one that we thought would generate both jobs and support a local health sector within the community. That project has actually been replicated in Crewe and is going well, limited by the issues of immigration and travel at the moment, particularly from India. But, it has already introduced health staff into both the Lancashire and Cheshire Health Authority areas. So it did work, and it is working for them.”

“But we have to start again and look at the opportunities going forward.”

“In the meantime, our responsibility is to maintain the building to make sure it remains wind and watertight until we can find a new owner. They will take it forward and work with Welsh Government or whomever they need to access grants and support.”