Express & Star

Walsall fans win bid to protect Banks’s Stadium

Walsall fans have won their bid to protect the Banks’s Stadium after being granted legislation to list the building as a community asset.

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The application – made by Walsall Football Supporters Trust – has been approved by Walsall Borough Council and means the group must be notified if the ground is to be sold.

They will then have six months to put together their own bid for the stadium.

Assets of Community Value (ACV) can be granted on a building or land if they ‘further the social wellbeing or social interests of the local community’.

The application by the trust has seen ACV status granted on the land which the Banks’s Stadium stands.

That includes associated car parks, The Saddlers Club, the artificial playing pitches and the stadium facilities.

The Banks’s Stadium, also known as Bescot Stadium, is currently owned by Walsall chairman Jeff Bonser.

He bought the freehold for the ground and the surrounding land through his pension fund which is owned by finance firm Suffolk Life.

But a statement released by the Trust said AVC status won’t hamper Bonser if he chooses to sell.

The legislation doesn’t restrict who the owner of the land can sell their asset too.

It also doesn’t place any restrictions on what the owner can do with their land while they own it.

However, if the stadium does go up for sale, AVC status provides an interim period within which community groups can express an intention to buy the asset on the open market.

The statement said: The Trust Board feel that the listing of the Banks’s Stadium is in the best interests of the future of Walsall Football Club, employees of the club, the supporters, and the local community in general.”

Speaking prior to the application being made, trust member Steve Davies said: “The ACV effectively acts as a safeguard, giving fans the chance to buy the ground should it become available.

“It does not mean we are preparing a bid, or that we think the ground might become available anytime soon.

“It is merely to give the site itself a bit of protection. A number of other supporters’ trusts have opted to go down this route since the legislation came into being in 2012.”