Northampton Town: Sixfields stadium land deal approved

A deal which could see the half-built stand at Northampton Town's Sixfields stadium finally completed has been approved.

The East Stand has been sitting incomplete at the ground for more than seven years.

West Northamptonshire Council's Cabinet has now agreed to an offer from the club's owners to buy land next to the ground after years of wrangling.

Its leader Jonathan Nunn told members: "Let's hope we get it right this time."

The deal will see two portions of the land being sold to County Developments (Northampton) Ltd (CDNL) for £2.05m.

Their offer included an undertaking to complete the work on the East Stand within five years or the council would be entitled to buy back part of the site for £1.

The decision had been deferred from last week after a rival bidder for the land, Cilldara, had increased its offer with a warning of a legal challenge.

But officers recommended the CDNL bid on the basis it would meet the council's obligations to obtain the best financial deal, offset potential legal challenges over the land's complex leasing arrangements and "increase the likelihood that the East Stand would be completed".

Months of legal work will follow as the council will have to obtain consent from the government agency Homes England, the previous owner of the site, due to a pre-existing clause.

Also, the site has been declared an Asset of Community Value (ACV) which means a six-month moratorium on the sale subject to a community interest group raising funds to make an offer.

However, this was deemed to be unlikely, the meeting was told.

The East Stand was supposed to be refurbished using a £10.25m loan from Northampton Borough Council, but work stalled in 2014 after contractors went unpaid.

The borough authority has since been replaced by West Northamptonshire Council as part of a reorganisation of local government in the county.

The disposal of the land had been the subject of long-running negotiations between the club and the former borough council.

Cabinet member for finance, councillor Malcolm Longley, told the meeting that it was "time to wrap up the discussions", and that "personal guarantees" from the football club's owners were a key point.

He will now oversee the sale process alongside senior officers, but he promised "unless I'm entirely satisfied with the terms and conditions, I won't sign it off".

Both Labour and Liberal Democrat members spoke at the meeting in support of the deal.

Conservative leader Jonathan Nunn said: "This has been scrutinised to death now. We've absolutely looked at this and had the most incredibly open debate."

In a statement, Northampton Town FC said the club was "very pleased to confirm that members voted to approve the club's proposal for the disposal of land at Sixfields".

It added: "This is a very important decision for the club, coming in the week of our 125th anniversary, and this now allows the process to move on to the contractual stage with legal papers to be drawn up."

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