THE new football and rugby club at Woolmore Farm will not be opened before December because, bizarrely, there is no electricity at the ground.
Wiltshire Council had, until recently, failed to arrange a power supply to the new £7million clubhouse which has been under construction since August 2015.
As a result the clubs won’t be able to move in for another eight weeks or more, and may not be able to play there until the new year.
It means the Melksham Town vs Manchester United game, which was meant to celebrate the opening of the new ground will now have to take place at Town’s old ground.
Town have sold 2,000 tickets for the game against a team of Manchester United legends and the club wants to emphasise that the game will go ahead on Sunday 16th October but the venue has been switched to the Conigre.
Initially, work on the new ground was due to start in 2014 but Wiltshire Council blamed delays on newts being found on the site. When work finally commenced in August last year, the clubs were told the new ground would be ready for August this year.
But the opening date has since been pushed back several times.
“Let down”
Club officials feel let down by the delay, while local councillors are furious and demanding an explanation from the county council.
Dave Wiltshire, chairman of Melksham Town FC told Melksham News, “Myself and the committee are extremely disappointed in this further delay. It’s frustrating for all of us at the club but most of all I’m devastated for the fans and the players.
“I was told last week the agreements have all been signed and we can expect Woolmore Farm to be ready some time in December. I understand it’s just a matter of connecting the electricity supply and testing it, so I can’t see anything else getting in the way of that.
“We are still very excited about moving into the new club and grateful to Wiltshire Council that we’re getting such a fantastic facility; it’s something many clubs can only dream of.”
Conigre return
Dave said that Town, who have already played 14 away games in a row this season, have been told by the league they need to start playing home games. The club will next week move back to The Conigre until the new ground is completed.
Melksham Rugby Club are still playing on their pitch at Melksham House, but their changing rooms were burnt down earlier this year.
Club secretary Andy Cadwallader said, “We are disappointed about the wait but overall we’re definitely moving in the right direction.
“There is an issue around changing rooms because ours were destroyed. We’ve been using the ones at The Conigre but the football club will need them back soon, so that is a concern for us.
“We’re expecting to get the keys to Woolmore Farm in December but there is still work to be done inside, so we probably won’t be playing there until the new year.
“It’s a really positive step for the club and we’re working hard with Wiltshire Council to try and get everything moving as soon as we can.”
At an area board meeting in June, county councillor John Thomson and Wiltshire Council associate director Laurie Bell said Woolmore Farm was expected to be ready by 15th August.
But the council last week explained that agreements with land owners and power suppliers have caused delays, and that now it expects the ground to be up and running in December.
A Wiltshire Council spokesperson said, “Everyone involved in the project is doing everything they can to ensure the clubs can relocate to Woolmore Farm at the earliest opportunity. However the agreements to get the main power line into the site with multiple land owners and the electrical suppliers have been extremely complicated.
“Following this hard work, we anticipate the clubs will relocate to the new state-of-the-art facility at the beginning of December. In the meantime they are playing their home fixtures elsewhere as was agreed in the contingency plans.”
Explanation needed
Chairman of Melksham Without Parish Council, councillor Richard Wood, says the council must be held accountable.
He told Melksham News, “I and the parish council are extremely disappointed by this. I understand the electricity supply and land owner agreements were the issue – why weren’t they sorted out a year ago when building started? It can take time but it’s not ‘extremely complicated’ and it doesn’t take over a year. Somebody at the council has dropped the ball, and they need to put their hand up and give people a proper explanation. If the council knew this might happen why did they let the football club go ahead and book the Manchester United game for October? Delays to the clubs are delays to the whole campus, so this is affecting the majority of the town.”
Melksham town and county councillor, and chairman of the town council’s campus group, Jon Hubbard, had not been told about the delay.
When he found out cllr Hubbard said, “That I don’t know just shows Wiltshire Council’s absolute contempt for its elected members. The last I heard was that it would be done this month. I’m lost for words.
“This project is just cock up after cock up and the cabinet keeps trying to obfuscate information from its members. The council is messing people around in ways it really can’t afford to.
“I’ll be calling for an emergency area board meeting to find out what’s going on with the campus because it’s getting ridiculous.”
