A town football club’s dream to move from its “drab and dilapidated” home to a new purpose-built ground could be back on track after the local council agreed to look at the scheme again.
Officials at Redditch United said its long-term survival was under threat because Redditch Borough Council would not back a £3.3 million plan to move from its current Valley Park stadium near the town centre.
The Worcestershire club claimed the local authority could benefit by up to £2 million from the move.
But now the council has called a special meeting of the executive to discuss the future of the club, though the council said the meeting would also demonstrate how the authority had already considered the proposal carefully.
The club –which plays in the Premier Division of the Calor Southern League – says facilities at Valley Park are no longer fit for purpose and has proposed a move to council-owned land in a commercial zone in Washford.
It says such a move would in effect swap its tenancy at Valley Park for Washford, meaning the council would still generate an income from the club.
With the Valley Park site earmarked for development, the club claims cash generated from the sale of the land, along with grants it is confident it can secure from the Football Association’s Football Foundation, would fund the scheme.
It says the council would receive a windfall from the development – anything between £600,000 and £2 million.
The scheme, which the club says has attracted offers from three major housebuilders, is being spearheaded by Reds’ chairman Chris Swan.
Councillor Debbie Taylor, who represents the ward in which the club is based, said: “Mr Swan’s proposals are surrounded by complex planning and legal issues as well as representing a financial risk to the council, this meeting will help to make that clear to everyone.
“We all have the same goal in mind – but we have to make sure that plans going forward are robust and most importantly will not have an impact on the public purse and is in the best interests of the whole community. A full discussion of the proposals is required.”
Members will also consider a “significant financial concession to the club” in the shape of a rent freeze until the end of 2017.
Mr Swan said: “We are delighted the council are seemingly prepared to look at our plans again.
“”It is vital for the club, the many community groups that we work with, not to mention the many more that we want to work with, that we can find a way forward. Staying as we are is not an option, the club is simply not sustainable on any level as it is.”
