The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
Rugby club may be set for move
Peterborough Rugby Club could be on the move in a new deal that might provide a major boost to plans to create a dedicated sports village in the city. Club officials and the leader of Peterborough City Council are currently in talks.
Peterborough Rugby Club could be on the move in a new deal that might provide a major boost to plans to create a dedicated sports village in the city. Club officials and the leader of Peterborough City Council are currently in talks that could see the club, which has about 650 members, l eave its Fengate home for facilities at the Woodlands Sports Centre in Castor.
But both parties warn that talks are in their early stages and could take up to six months to a year to be completed.
The council currently leases the Fengate pitches to the club, which has been at the site since 1974. The current lease has about 40 years left to run.
But if a deal could be a greed, it would go a long way towards fulfilling the council’s aspirations to create a top class sports village in the city.
Club president Phil Elmer said: “If it’s a move that suits the club and the council then it will happen. “But this is very early days. “If the club was to move to Woodlands it would help the council achieve its goal of creating a sports village with Pete r borough United Football Club, the Regional Swimming Pool and running track at one end and the rugby club at Woodlands at the other.”
It is thought the cost of any move could be about £ 2 million. The club, which traces its origins back to 1870, has its ground on a former refuse tip, which has created problems in the past with dips appearing in the pitches.
Councillor Marco Cereste, the council leader, would only confirm that talks had started but would not reveal the identities of any possible sites for the club.
He said: “If the club was to move it could become part of a sports village for Peterborough that would include a range of high class facilities. One of our aims is to have an Olympicsized swimming pool in the city.”
Cllr Cereste said the local authority had been in talks with Sports England and other groups about ways of creating a sports village.
Once the Fengate ground is vacant, it is thought the site could be suitable for a range of uses from industry, housing or even as an energy park made up of wind turbines and solar panels.