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They are to ask senior officers to set up a feasibility study to consider how the councils investment needs can be accommodated within a completed East Stand. The Council have said they are looking to work in partnership with the Shay Stadium Trust to develop the feasibility study.
Although in effect the Council have not approved the Shay Stadium Trust’s preferred solution in favour of the Council’s own feasibility study Halifax Town Supporters Trust believe we can view this latest move with some cautious optimism.
The SST’s preferred solution in a report commissioned by the SST (written by consultants PMP and submitted to the Council in July) involved completion of the East Stand and South Annex (the structure attached to the East Stand with a partial view of the pitch); however the whole project suffered from a funding shortfall.
There remain a number of areas of concern and we will be interested in how the Council intend to proceed. Our main concerns are as follows:
1. Finance. It is clear that considerable sums need to be generated and the Council may need to source from outside its own funds from both the private and public sectors.
2. The Stadium needs to be sustainable financially into the future. The SST viewed the provision of commercial facilities within the East Stand, particularly conferencing and banqueting facilities, as an important element in the project. Are the Council prepared to finance such facilities or will other investment from outside be required. The question of sustainability of the Stadium is clearly of paramount importance.
3. There appears to be a poor perception within the Council of the advantages a “community” stadium can bring. Other areas where community stadiums have developed have brought together health, recreation, sport, education and involved many differing sections of the community. The stadium has become the hub of community provision and we will be interested in how imaginative the Council are prepared to be. We accept and understand that this may involve other agencies than the Council for instance Calderdale Primary Care Trust, Sport England, Yorkshire Forward etc.
4. Timescale. The rugby club have already expressed their concerns regarding this in relation to their potential application for Rugby Super League status and a deadline of 31st March 2008 appears to be the latest possible with no room for slippage. Although this may not be of primary concern to HTST we are aware that both clubs need to have access to improved match day corporate facilities in order to fulfil their commercial potential.
5. The Skircoat [or West] Stand is in need of refurbishment or even reconstruction. It is clear that the Skircoat Road part of the site is the most valuable for development. Reduced capacity in a remodelled West Stand would provide a greater area for development and more development profit. The SST proposal allowed for an overall stadium capacity in excess of 10,000, more than adequate in our view. However we must be mindful of the requirements for membership of both the Football League and Super League in this respect.
6. The Council may wish to consider the provision of a modern state of the art artificial playing surface. This would reduce maintenance costs thus making the Stadium more sustainable, and also open up the use of the pitch for more community use. HTST would support such a move only provided that all football authorities [the FA, Football League and Football Conference] were prepared to unconditionally approve such a surface.
7. The Football authorities have provided the bulk of the finance for the stadium. Their original grant of which over £300k is still available on satisfactory completion of the East Stand, was supplemented by a loan the bulk of which is still to be repaid. Last year the SST made an agreement with the Football Stadia Improvement Fund (FSIF) with regard to how this money is to be repaid, it is important that the Council proposals include provision for both the remaining grant and the repayment of the loan.
8. In view of the amount of finance already provided by the Football authorities, it is important that any completed stadium fully meets their requirements without the need for any additional future expenditure. We are aware that some of the requirements made by the Rugby Super League differ from those for football and although these should be accommodated where possible, the rugby club and/or rugby authorities may need to source their own finance for those requirements.
9. Responsibility for the management of the Stadium currently lies with the SST. Clearly consideration will need to be given to how the Stadium is managed in future. The HTST would be opposed to direct council involvement, as this did not work in the past, but appreciate that their level of involvement needs to be recognised. HTST would point out that as one of the four founder members of SST that any change to the make up of the SST will need to be discussed directly with those members.
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NEXT FIXTURE
Society Board Meeting
VENUE
Burnley Road, Halifax
DATE
14 May 2007 @ 7.30 pm
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