Plans for a new retail, sports, and community village next to Hull KR’s Craven Park have been submitted to Hull City Council.
The plans seek to transform the land to the east of Craven Park into a mixed use space which can largely be divided into retail units and sports facilities.
Retail space
A retail park is suggested for the northern most part of the application site. Submitted plans show how the existing Waudby Centre would be joined by five new retails units in forming a retail park with over 400 car parking spaces. It is suggested in the plans that two of the units would be occupied by Aldi and B&M.
Both vehicles and pedestrians would be able to enter and exit the retail park via a new access road off Annandale Road, whilst there would also be another pedestrian exit onto Ashwell Avenue.
Sports and fan areas
The other key elements of the proposed development relate to either sports facilities or spaces for rugby fans to use on match days. A large part of the development would be taken up by three full-sized rugby pitches, placed directly east of the stadium. Plans explain that one of the pitches would be for Hull KR’s first team training, another would be for the academy teams, whilst the third would be a ‘community pitch’.
A new community sports hub would be created in the development that would contain a netball court and one and a half basketball courts. On Hull KR match days this area would transform into a fanzone with mini-games and catering facilities.
The ‘Preston Road Fanwalk’ that connects Preston Road with Craven Park, which is a common route for fans arriving to the stadium, would receive a makeover in the development. The ‘fanwalk’ would become a “tree and flag lined boulevard” which fans could use on the way to and from the stadium. The plans even use an image of the iconic Wembley Way as an example of similar fanwalks.
A ‘Sports Village’ is also proposed in the plans which would be made up of the existing Waudby Centre and a new Padel club.
By: Andrew Spence, LDRS
