The 15-acre regeneration project aims to enhance the area surrounding the Sewell Group Craven Park stadium. It focuses on creating new community facilities and amenities to support people’s health and wellbeing. Hull Kingston Rovers (Hull KR) plans to transform this area into an inclusive place that revitalises East Hull while futureproofing the Club’s ambitions to grow and succeed.
The masterplan includes:
- Three new grass training pitches, one of which will be accessible to local clubs and teams, complete with suitable changing facilities.
- New indoor training facilities designed for both community and Club use.
- The rejuvenation of the Waudby Centre to create a multi-sport indoor hall, benefiting the community and serving as the home for Hull KR Netball Club.
- Two new large-scale retail facilities.
- A retail terrace and commercial units, including a flagship sports brand facility.
- Dedicated car parking facilities.
- Public spaces designed to promote health and well-being.
- Green spaces integrated throughout the development for community enjoyment.
The regeneration project is led by Hull KR, a Super League rugby league team, following the Club purchase of the 15-acre site from Hull City Council in 2022.
Hull KR’s vision is to create a new campus that puts inclusivity, health and wellbeing, and amenity at its heart, bringing everyone in the city together.
The Club’s ambitious vision is supported by its three key pillars:
- Inclusivity: To bring all areas of the community together, provide opportunities, and reduce health inequalities.
- Health and Wellbeing: To offer fair access to health and wellbeing activities for communities across East Hull and beyond.
- Amenity: To deliver essential amenities for community use, including public green spaces, retail outlets, and an enhanced fan experience on matchdays.
The project provides numerous benefits, including:
- Improved sports and training facilities accessible to the community, to promote active and healthy lifestyles.
- New retail and commercial opportunities, creating retail choice and jobs, and boosting the local economy.
- Public spaces designed to promote health and wellbeing.
Absolutely. The project will create employment opportunities in both the construction phase, but also when the scheme is in operation, through the creation of the new retail terrace, and the large retail stores, which will be home to major occupiers. We anticipate that up to 314 new jobs could be generated when the scheme is fully operational.
The parking included in the Sewell Group Craven Park regeneration will offer sufficient spaces to service the masterplan. Matchday parking is a separate issue. The Club is in discussions with the council and is currently looking at solutions to minimise disruption on matchdays.
The regeneration aligns with Hull City Council’s health and wellbeing strategy, which aims to integrate good health with economic prosperity. It also supports the council’s vision to address deprivation and improve health outcomes for all residents. You can read the council’s strategy here: Health and Wellbeing strategy 2022 | Hull.
The project complements the council’s ambition to integrate health and economic growth, as part of its journey to becoming a mayoral combined authority.
The project supports Hull KR’s aspirations to:
- Strengthen its men’s and women’s rugby teams.
- Expand its netball team.
- Provide a new home for the wheelchair rugby team.
This creates opportunities for people of all abilities to participate in sports, promoting inclusivity and community engagement, through the provision of new amenities.
Our initial masterplan will consult around the regeneration of the land around the Sewell Group Craven Park stadium including improvements to modernise public space around the Stadium but not any redevelopment of the stadium itself
Hull is among the most deprived areas in England, and this regeneration project seeks to address these challenges by providing accessible health and wellbeing amenities.
By creating inclusive spaces and new opportunities, the project aims to improve the quality of life for East Hull residents and beyond. We aspire for our new sports facilities to inspire the next generation of Hull’s sporting stars while providing local residents with access to high-quality sports amenities..
Environment Agency mapping indicates that the site is located within Flood Zone 3 (high probability of river and sea flooding), with the River Humber forming the primary source of flood risk to the site.
The Environment Agency does not wish to be consulted on this planning application with respect to flood risk matters and has instead provided local flood risk standing advice to be employed at the site. The relevant flood risk standing advice has been accessed, with the key requirement noted to be the raising of the floor level of each proposed site building by 600mm relative to existing local site levels.
The Hull City Council 2016 Strategic Flood Risk Assessment (SFRA) indicates that flood depths on-site are in excess of 0.6m. Recognising this, a mitigation strategy is currently being developed for the site, which will demonstrate that the proposals are safe from flood risk and will generally accord with the relevant Environment Agency (EA) Local Flood Risk Standing Advice. Measures to be employed include raising new site buildings 600mm above existing ground levels and providing a ‘place of safety’ in the proposed commercial, leisure, and club-use buildings in line with the SFRA and the Local Flood Risk Standing Advice. Elevated ‘places of safety’ are also being provided where possible within the existing Waudby Centre.
From our liaison with Hull City Council Lead Local Flood Authority, they have requested that a Flood Warning and Evacuation Plan is prepared as part of the overall Flood Risk Assessment for the development site to accompany the planning application.
In summary, an assessment of flood risk at the site is being undertaken based on the 2016 SFRA in order to determine the mitigation measures required to generally comply with the Standing Advice, which will naturally be fully reflected in the site masterplan.
The hierarchy of surface water discharge has been followed to determine the most appropriate post-development surface water drainage solution for the site.
Surface water infiltration techniques are not suitable for the site as the encountered shallow soils are cohesive in nature with very limited permeability. Accordingly, following detailed discussions with Hull City Council Lead Local Flood Authority, it has been agreed that the most suitable and sustainable method of post-development site surface water discharge is to the off-site Marfleet Drain at greenfield runoff rates – this will ensure no adverse drainage-related impacts arise from the development proposals.
Further drainage related sustainable measures have been introduced with a series of SuDS (Sustainable Drainage Systems) elements to be implemented across the site. These measures will:
- Reduce the flow rate from the post-development site to greenfield runoff rates.
- Provide significant water quality treatment prior to discharge to the off-site watercourse – this will exceed the treatment requirements set out in The SuDS Manual.
The proposed on-site SuDS elements include:
- Bioretention strips adjacent to areas of soft landscaping.
- Permeable paving for car parking bays.
- Green roofs on some of the proposed site buildings.
- Routing all post-development flows through the existing pond north of the stadium, providing additional filtration benefits before discharge into Marfleet Drain.
These surface water drainage proposals have been discussed and agreed in principle with Hull City Council Lead Local Flood Authority.
Post-development foul water will discharge to the existing Yorkshire Water combined sewer system beneath Preston Road immediately to the north of the site.
The regeneration supports Hull’s community plan, which integrates health with economic growth.
It complements broader regional strategies, such as the Yorkshire and Humber empowering local places for health and prosperity whitepaper, furthering Hull’s progress toward becoming a mayoral combined authority area.
Hull KR is committed to working collaboratively with the community and will launch a public consultation exercise in March.
Residents will be encouraged to share their views and ideas for this place-enhancing project, making sure that the masterplan reflects the needs and aspirations of the local community.
We will be inviting local residents and stakeholders to attend a community exhibition at the Waudby Centre on Thursday 20 March. Doors will be open between 2pm and 7pm.
We would be delighted if you could spare the time to attend the consultation at any point during the hours above to hear our plans for the site, discuss the proposal, and provide the team with any feedback you may have.
We will be inviting feedback between Monday 10 March to Friday 28 March. You will be welcome to submit feedback via the website or at the community exhibition.
Please note that any feedback received after the consultation closes will be considered at the discretion of the project team.
Once the hybrid planning application has been submitted, there will be further opportunities for you to share your views.
After the application is submitted and validated, members of the public will be able to submit their comments directly to Hull City Council, as part of the 21-day statutory consultation period. Please be aware that changes are likely between our current proposals and the final application, so you may have additional or different feedback to provide at that stage.
As part of the masterplan proposal, we are working to the following initial timeline:
Planning Submission - April 2025
Anticipated Determination - July 2025.
Anticipated Start on Site - February 2026
Anticipated Completion – Spring 2027