Talks on Walsall’s Banks’s stadium now ‘urgent’, says chief
Tuesday 31st May 2011, 11:28AM BST.
Walsall Council were today facing mounting pressure to help the Saddlers safeguard their future after Labour called on them to meet the club.
The party want the council, which is under a minority Conservative rule, to hold “urgent talks” with the club and fans about the sale of the Banks’s Stadium.
In a statement they stopped short of saying the council should make a bid for the ground but insisted the local authority should take a more proactive role in the sale process.
It follows a campaign, led by music producer and lifelong fan Steve Jenkins, to convince the council to buy the freehold.
Council leader Mike Bird has dismissed the idea, insisting they cannot afford to invest, despite the extra £250,000 in rent a year the council would receive from the Saddlers.
Labour leader Tim Oliver said: “This out of hand rejection of a role for the council in the club’s future is short sighted, to say the least.”
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As a Walsall council tax payer i object to the council buying the ground.Lets be honest only 3 thousand bother turning up once a fortnight and they rarely hold conferences there,More people used the council golf course in which the council refused to help fund it and closed it down.
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Ryan, on what basis do you object to something that won’t cost the council a penny and won’t impact the taxpayer in any sense?
Or is this a case of the council once again pulling the wool over the people of Walsall by not telling them the FACTS behind the deal.
Walsall Council can apply for what is called a Prudential Loan with preferential rates, as other councils owning football grounds have done.
The rent payments from Walsall FC to the Council would be nearly 2x as much as the loan re-payments. Therefore, for £0 capital investment, Walsall Council would be better off to the tune of £250k per annum and also sitting on a very valuable piece of land as well as safe-guarding the future of one of Walsall’s largest employers and most valuable tourist commodities.
Ergo, there really is zero argument against this. It does not cost a penny in capital outlay, it does not cost the tax-payer anything and the council make £250k/annum pure profit.
I only wish I had the money to do it.
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It does seem a bit strange that the Council seem to be falling over themselves to help Walsall Rugby Club with their development plans but refuse to discuss the future of the football club.
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Saddler,
Where are the figures you quote coming from? The council will make 250K per year? So its paying back how much over what level?
No, the “FACTS” (by the way putting things in capital letters doesn’t make them any more true) are that the club can’t afford to pay its way.
If it could then there is not an issue, because the club has a lease for 80 odd years and it cannot be evicted.
Why should the council put up its or governments money to subsidise something that the commercial market sees as a bad risk?
Rather than just demeaning other peopel points of view, why won’t anyone come up with some genuine arguments in favour of this?
Last week, we found out there was a local man, not a property developer who wants to buy the land. Why aren’t we pushing for this? If he has the best of intentions then this is surely preferable as he can have more flexibility than a council or a pension fund?
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Don’t hold conferences reguarly?
they hold conferences several times a week ryan,
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Ryan! are you seriously telling me that 3000-3500 people used the council golf course each fortnight??…… Dream on!!!
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Jim,
The figures have already been published, but to re-confirm.
Circa £6.5m would cost about £250k per annum in repayments, the club currently pays £477k/annum in rent linked to RPI.
Therefore a clear profit of £227k/annum for £0 capital outlay as prudential borrowing is available to local authorities at a rate of circa 3.5% I believe.
The lease of 80 years means nothing, a property developer can simply walk in, run the club into the ground and suddenly you’ve no football club to play on the ground. We’ve seen with other examples how easy that is to do, notably Doncaster Rovers and Chester City.
As for the ‘other bidder’, there has been serious interest from other bidders for a couple of months. If he has nothing to hide, he will come out and tell everyone his background, rather than just telling Mike Bird.
Personally, if a route can be found involving zero capital, zero tax-payer contribution, an improvement to the council cash flow, then I struggle to see what the problem is.
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Jim Allen,
What world do you live in?
You say it’s a bad risk for the council because if the club cannot afford the rent then they cannot be evicted because of the 80 year lease.
I’ve never heard of a lease agreement that protects the tenant from eviction even on the basis of non-payment of rent!
Stop making scare stories that are patently untrue.
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Walsall council are anti sport,believe you and me you wouldnt want Walsall council as your landlords,councils and football clubs just dont go hand in hand.
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Ryan do you ever go to a match at the banks’s stadium, im a steward there and there are more conferences there than there will be at your house.
the money that the banks’s stadium brings in would be great for the council.
SO RYAN GROW UP AND GET A LIFE.
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Now Now people, what we all need to do is to wait and see what happens, the club is a business and if a local business man wants to buy the land and have the clubs best interests at heart then who know it maybe the first of many steps he want before he ousts Mr Bonsor an may even have a bit of cash behind him too to put us to the next level, as for the council hmmmm lets not hold our breath as yes the repayments would be cheaper but the we could still be looking for a buyer who to be honest wouldnt be interested if they had to buy the property of the council…… So what we all need to do is try to find out who the local business man is Mr jenkins himself of Pete watermans consortium looking to buy out Bosnor one step at a time UTS!!!!
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Again, no arguments for just a shouting down of those who may put an alternative view.
And Saddlers Daz I don’t know how many people used the golf course, but I do know there isn’t anywhere else for them to play as cheaply.
And I bet more people came from ouside of the borough to watch the illuminations than probably watched the football. They closed.
And so if the football club can’t afford to pay the rent this year, or next year or any year in the next 20…what then?
I don’t know about dreaming on, smelling the coffee may be a better option for everyone.
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the council buying the land is no better than anyone else buying it. we have a lease that no matter who buys it, will have to be upheld. We need a buyer for the ground and club that will ‘loan’ the club the money to buy the ground and instead of taking rent, they take it as a mortgage so in 25 years the club owns the ground again for the same £350k a month it is now paying in rent. Council purchase is completely pointless
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Walsall RFC has been bought out by a developer and they will be relocated at Alridge Aerodrome (Bosty Lane) with the developer building them a new rugby club and giving them an additional £1m in return for the land on Delves Road. Of course this going to be higher on the council’s agenda, it is a done deal that benefits the town. As a saddlers fan yes, I can see the benefit of the council securing the club but would much rather have someone like Steve Jenkins own the club outright (similar to what Jim Allen is suggesting). I think it would stunt any forward movement for the club if everything had to be endorsed by councillor’s signatures.
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I would put a years wages that crowds would significantly improve due to the departure of Mr Bonser. Especially if a new owner comes in that gives the light at the end of the tunnel of Walsall Football Club eventually regaining the Freehold back in it’s rightful place, which won’t happen if the Council buy it. I’m 100% AGAINST the Council buying the land
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As a former employee of Walsall football club i used to see what some people dont. The commercial and conference side of the football club is a very lucrative business as well as regular sports events which brings much needed funds to the club. so they can hold their own any many ways. Be thankful that Walsall still has a football club to be proud of as where others have failed massively..
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tinned,
I think you misunderstand me, I didn’t say the council wouldn’t evict, I am just wondering what the advantage there is to the club in the council owning the freehold if it evits the same as anyone else?
But thanks for asking what world I live in, it seems quite real to me.
Saddler (#7), I apologise if the figures are elsewhere, I can’t find them, but I would question them. 250K repayment a year on 6.5 million would be looking at 26 years to pay off the capital let alone the interest (no matter how beneficial the rate its still going to nearly double the amount or the term)
Most commercial loans, unlike mortgages are over period of 5 or 10 years not 25 or 50. I don’t know how purdential loan works in terms of terms, but its an awfully long term a committment to gain the kind of returns mentioned.
A loan wouldn’t be accessible for the non-payment of rent. Would it?
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I agree with Jim Allen
The lease is protected for over 80 yrs by the landlord and tenant act 1954 so anyone buying the land can’t evict even if they wanted to.
There would be a cost to taking out any type of commerical mortgage and for what purpose..? if the club does go do you actually think the mortgage ceases because the council dont get any income?!
Besides can you honestly see Waslall council granting a developer planning permission to drop the ground and build houses, even then the £6M buy in doesnt stack up to build residential its too much to kick off with.
The council is better off spending whatever money they have on fixing the roads and schools in the area and let Bonsar sell on to someone who will part with their money, instituion or not.
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Thanks Scotty (and others)
I am still interested and willing to be convinced by those who think the council should buy the land. And yet there doesn’t seem to be a coherent argument that stands up to scrutiny.
In fact if some of the comments put by the pro-civic-purchase lobby are anything to go by on this and on other stories I can’t say I blame councillors who don’t want to sit in a room discussing the matter if all they can expect is abuse.
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