On Wednesday 10th December, Northampton Town Football Club met with Northampton Borough Council to discuss the future of Sixfields Community Stadium and to progress talks in respect of the Council's intentions for the Sixfields Site.
The Borough Council informed the club at that meeting, that contrary to a letter recently received saying that the Sixfields masterplan had only been delayed, the masterplan would now not proceed.
The Council also informed the club that, despite the club and council holding talks on a proposed 'compromise deal' over retail plans for Sixfields, that no retail which "inadvertently or in any other way" impacts on the town centre would be agreed.
The Council have told the club they will not allow any retail of any sort on the Sixfields site until after the Grosvenor Centre deal had been completed, and then only at a time towards the end of the Core Strategy period (2010-2026).
The club were also told that their joint proposals with development partner LXB to promote a Garden Centre at Sixfields would not be supported as they could impact on the town centre.
The Council said they would continue to talk with the club regarding any possible future planning application for the site but that only non retail options would be considered.
David Cardoza, the Club's Chairman said: "We are bitterly disappointed at this news. We have worked hard over the last 12 months following a lengthy delay, going back to 2004, to come up with plans which enabled value to come from our developments to help refurbish and re-develop the Community Stadium, whilst at the same time trying to assist the Council by not promoting uses that conflict with the town centre.
"We have now been left with very few options for development and none of these at present will release enough funds to implement our original or revised plans. We now have to go back to the drawing board, start from scratch, talk to our partners and try to work up a plan to put to the Council which can salvage some of our plans, if indeed this is at all possible."
The club are understood to be very angry about the continued delays and constantly shifting policies that have been introduced by the Council since the outset of the project in 2004.
Director Tony Clarke, who also attended the meeting, said: "We have discussed the club's intentions now with four chief executives, three council leaders, and a it seems a busload of planning officers over a period of five years. We have had talks on Area Action Plans, Local Development Frameworks, Joint Core Strategies, and Masterplans and yet we are still, after all this time, right back where we started."
It is understood that the club will now hold an emergency board meeting to discuss a way forward and meet again with its partners to look at what avenues are left open to salvage something from their plans.
The Governments Home and Communities Agency (formerly known as English Partnerships) were also at the meeting and dialogue between the HCA, LXB and the football club is continuing.
David Cardoza said, "I would like to thank the HCA for their positive contribution to the debate and whilst we are understandably angry with the Council's inaction over the years and with the way we have been treated, we also realise that our anger won't save the football club or move us forward. We remain committed to working with the Council to progress these matters but we feel that they have to grasp, at a political level, the need to protect all of the town's assets including the football club and it's leisure infrastructure and work with us to find an agreeable way forward."
