THE NTFC/CDNL plan for warehouses on land around Sixfields stadium has taken greater shape with plans for the site now posted on West Northamptonshire Council’s planning portal.
The following link is an email letter from NTFC's consultants to the council asking for a decision that an Environmental Impact Assessment for the site at Sixfields is not required. The plan is part of that application for a ruling and the the application can be accessed here:-
Nine warehouses have been earmarked for the 19-acre site if NTFC/CDNL is successful in securing a land deal with the council – the site stretches from behind the stadium’s East Stand up to the North stand car park and a little beyond.
The largest warehouse will straddle half of the old athletics track land, which the Supporters Trust has sought to protect as an Asset of Community Value since 2019.
That would leave room for some car parking behind what we hope will be a completed East Stand but, otherwise, it will leave little scope for future club expansion on land which has historically been treated as a community asset for the benefit of Northampton’s local sports clubs.
The Trust is opposed to this land being used for warehousing when there is plenty of scope elsewhere on the site for this type of development as part of the local plan and Enterprise Zone considerations for Northampton.
We question why this piece of land behind the East Stand also needs to be covered by a warehouse, espeically when this development brings no discernible benefit to the football club ?
We feel the warehouse plan exposes a lack of vision and forward thinking from both the club and the council in terms of how this land behind the East Stand might actually be used.
Is this plan in the best interests of an ambitious and progressive football club? Is this plan really the best one in town?
The Trust will continue to lobby the club and the council for a clear and detailed final plan for the site should the provisional transaction proceed to sale.
We would like to see:-
• A bolder vision… this deal is being sought in the name of the football club so what future investment benefit is there for the football club? What income will go to and be retained by the club? The club has failed to publish even any provisional figures.
• A clear and unequivocal legal guarantee, provided by the present owners, that they will complete the East Stand as part of any land acquisition– as they said they would do when they took over in 2015.
• A final contract which secures all the land behind the East Stand for NTFC with no strings attached.
The draft contract now includes a clause which allows the council to buy back this parcel of land after five years if the stand is not completed to their satisfaction during this time.
But this obligation should rest with our owners, not the football club, as their promise that the stand would be completed by them from their own resources was integral to the arrangement with the then Northampton Borough Council that allowed them to acquire our club in 2015.
• A cost analysis of the completion of the East Stand – now thought to be in the region of £5-£6 million – and a summary of how that will then impact the NTFC's financial position. The club is presently around £5 million in debt to the owners.
Trust chair Andy Roberts said:
“The Trust’s position has remained consistent since we began the process of securing the Asset of Community Value on the old athletics track land six years ago.
“The club got burned by the missing millions scandal and, in the intervening years, the Trust’s board has remained determined that the club should never be exposed in that way again.
“The club chairman argues that the old athletics track land has been derelict and overgrown for many years so it can no longer be termed a community asset.
"But it has been allowed to get into that condition on his watch and opportunities to earn an income from the land appear not to have been considered or, at best, dismissed out of hand.
“When Sixfields stadium was opened in 1994 it was heralded as a community stadium for the benefit of the town’s sports clubs and the local community.
"That message has been lost and it needs to be broadcast once more, loud and clear, if the town’s proud sporting heritage is not to be compromised.
“We require forward thinking, vision and a commitment from both the club and council. We are not seeing this.
"Please bring forward an imaginative plan for the historic community land which will allow the football club and local sport in general to breathe and thrive.
“An enabling development in the name of the football club has to enable something for the football club beyond the repayment of debt to the owners, which in itself is not guaranteed.
“The debt repayment is taken on trust, as is the completion of the East Stand which remains subject to an unacceptable ‘get out’ clause. No land, no stand and a football club still burdened by debt remains a distinct possibility.
“A legally-binding guarantee is urgently needed to ensure that Northampton Town FC will be protected and not sold down the river.”
Note:
Land map and warehouses plan attached. CDNL – County Developments Northampton Ltd – is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Northampton Town FC but remains a separate entity to the football club.
