PLANS are afoot to redevelop the former home of Worcester Warriors in a bid to revive the wound-up Premiership club.
Owner Chris Holland has submitted a planning application to redevelop the club’s Sixways home, which includes a hotel and a solar farm, two years to the day since Worcester Warriors were suspended by the Rugby Football Union.
The application to Wychavon District Council was made by Junction 6 Ltd, a new ‘letting and operating of conference and exhibition centres’ business set up by Holland, the sole director, in February this year.
The planning application shows plans to build a solar farm, hotel, two new stands, a multi-storey car park and a driving range.
Official documents submitted to Wychavon read: “The stadium and its current amenities are falling way short of its potential as a community asset.
“The goal is to restore elite rugby to Worcester Warriors while creating a destination venue for sport, entertainment, health and wellbeing.
“A development that compliments and expands the uses currently present on site – maximising local community engagement and extending access to the surrounding region.
“The proposed development will require the demolition of the existing north and west stands, as well as the breakout of hardstanding surfaces and the loss of a singular, private, grass sports pitch.”
The estimated completion date has been set for two-to-five years, should planning approval be granted.
Key to the plans is Holland’s stated intention to return professional rugby to Sixways.
Speaking to the press he said: “Junction 6 are committed to return Worcester Warriors to professional rugby and to ensure that Sixways is the centre of excellence for sport, conferences and events in the area.”
Currently Sixways is home only to football – to non-league side Worcester Raiders, who play in the Hellenic League Premier, and Worcester City Women, who play in Division One Midlands.
Warriors’ long-term future is now in the hands of the RFU, who are still to decide at what level they might be allowed to return, following continued opposition from Championship clubs towards restructuring plans.
Undaunted, Worcester Warriors now has a new logo and website, while a substantial five-figure sum has already been spent on refurbishing the eight-year-old Sixways artificial playing surface.
