STATEMENT | Weekly update and answers to SGM questions

Our latest weekly update to supporters can be read below. This week’s update also contains answers to questions regarding the SGM and the Groves proposal.

The SGM takes place on Saturday August 1, via Zoom, and all members should have received an email about how to join.

For more information, and for the full agenda, please see the full Notice of Special General Meeting here.

You can read all of our previous updates here.

ICO Update

The information commissioner (ICO) has contacted the WST this week for further information regarding the reported breach of GDPR. They have asked us several questions as outlined below.

We have considered the information provided and we would like you to tell us more about the incident. In particular:

1. To date, are you aware of any other personal data breaches concerning the former Board member? If so, how is it being managed?
2. You advise that you wrote to the former Board Member with a request to take down the postings. Did you obtain written confirmation that this has been done?
3. You advise the risks to the data subjects with regards to this incident are not yet known. Are you aware of any evidence to suggest they have experienced detriment as a result of this breach? If so, how is it being managed?
4. You advise that disciplinary proceedings have been initiated against the former Board Member. Have these proceedings concluded?
5. What training does your organisation provide to its staff in relation to the requirements of the GDPR prior to this incident? Did the former Board Member receive data protection training?
6. What further action is being taken to prevent a recurrence of this incident?

We would like you to conduct an investigation and provide the additional information requested, within 7 days where possible. However, the ICO recognises the unprecedented challenges many organisations are facing during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. We understand that in some cases, resources might be diverted away from usual compliance or information governance work. Therefore if you are unable to respond within seven days, please provide the information as soon as you are able. An early response will help us decide the appropriate next steps, which in turn will help protect the personal data you hold from similar occurrences in future.

As we are in a busy time for the WST we will be requesting more time to respond to the enquiry.

SGM Resolutions Questions

How will the investment be funded?

​If the scheme was voted through we are 18 months away from being able to start any work. Funds would need to be set aside from income to make the initial changes to the site needed as well as fundraising with the support of the owners (you the members).

Regardless of the site location this approach would be the same. Our strategy would be to create pitches only in any phase one to minimise cost unless there is some other windfall for the club in that time period. Ultimately Wrexham AFC requires somewhere to train and therefore this is a normal part of any football club i.e. funding training facilities.

Has the money already been provided for?

​No.

Why?

It has taken us a little while to get to this point as you can see from the presentation talks started in 2018/19 season.

The financial fortunes of the club have changed in the period since then with a poor season in 2019/20 compounded by losing 25% of our home fixtures and C19 wiping out all income for a period of five months and counting.

We spend as we go along. Remember the club will still face these costs on any new development plus the cost of securing the site and related costs. This option, thanks to the support of our partners, is the best value option for your club.

Has a lawyer formally confirmed the time period to lift the covenants?

All timings are approximate as are subject to the legal system and have been shared with Wrexham AFC by WCBC who have taken legal advice on the matter. Removal of covenant would be the responsibility of WCBC.

Has cost inflation and contingency indexation been added to cost estimate to take it to likely date of start on site?

​The presentation element calls out that the figures shown are the quotes provided by potential suppliers and are a point in time.

We are realistic that to begin with we are likely to only be in a position to create pitches and not the other parts of the proposed development which could be some years away and therefore are an indication only of what it might cost and would need to be re calculated.

What happens if significant contamination is found when soil is tested?

As this was originally a school field and there are no records of contamination this is unlikely but something we would guard against by going through all of the right checks and searches before any lease was signed.

This resolution calls out that no lease would be signed unless we got the right planning consent and also the restrictive covenants were lifted.

What happens if the covenants aren’t lifted and our lease on 9 acres ends?

​We would need to investigate other options at that point in time. Our investigation to date shows that this is the very best option in our view as we obtain a 7.3 acre piece of flat land less than a mile from the Racecourse effectively for free.

We are very grateful to our partners in WCBC who have worked with us to achieve this.

Why is this option better than Colliers?

This question assumes that Colliers is available to us as an option. It isn’t. We have held conversations with the owners and we have managed to secure some capacity at night for our youngsters and our Ladies teams. We are grateful to our friends at the FAW for their help with this.

However the site is in use during the daytime and our access would be limited. We are not the only club in North Wales, or Wrexham . Whenever the FAW needed it for one of its teams we would be forced to make alternate arrangements.

Furthermore it would come at an annual cost which we would not have to find at the Groves. Any of those issues could be applied to alternate sites around the town. Our friends at the Council are basically gifting us the land and our costs are limited to preparing pitches.

Any alternate site would still require us to spend that money or pay rent or be prepared to find an alternate site when our landlords needed to use the facilities.

We used to own Colliers but it was taken away from us. Finding a new site has been a long and exhausting task. The damage caused to our club did not disappear when it was bought. We live with that legacy today.