Judicial review into Cobblers land deal moves forward
Judicial review into Cobblers land deal moves forward
West Northamptonshire Council’s decision to sell land to Northampton Town Football Club when a higher offer was on the table, will come under court scrutiny
By Sarah Ward
West Northamptonshire Council’s decision to sell land to Northampton Town Football Club when a higher offer was on the table will come under scrutiny by the high court.
A development company involved in a bidding war with Northampton Town Football Club over nearby land has won the right to apply for a judicial review into how the West unitary council made the decision.
A judge at Birmingham High Court decided on Monday to grant the judicial review requested by Cilldara Holdings Ltd to look into the process of how West Northamptonshire Council made the decision to sell the land to County Developments (Northampton) Ltd (a company owned by the club) for an offer of £1m less than the £3m it had offered the authority.
A judicial review looks at whether the decision was made lawfully and if the sitting judge rules it was not, the original decision is quashed.
The land at the centre of the bidding war is owned by the council and parts of it are leased by the football club.
The judicial review is the latest stage in what has now become a full blown saga. Last month we exclusively reported that the club’s supporter’s trust put in a rival bid for the land for £3m to the unitary authority, which the authority was taking a look at.
The trust has concerns that the club’s owners Kelvin Thomas and David Bower, who bought the Cobblers in 2015, are not continuing with the development of the East stand fast enough and fear they may never finish it. The stand was supposed to be completed back in 2014, after the club’s previous owner David Cardoza had been loaned more than £10m by the former borough council. That money went missing and a lengthy criminal investigation by Northants police is now in the hands of the Crown Prosecution Service.
Yesterday the council’s cabinet member for finance Malcolm Longley said:
“We have been informed that the judicial review has been granted leave to proceed, this does not mean the JR has been successful but does mean that the case can now go forward to a hearing. Given the complexity of this issue, we’re not surprised by the judge’s decision.
“During the court’s deliberation process, we received a bid from the Northampton Town Football Club Supporters Trust for a parcel of land in the area, including the asset of community value, and we are currently awaiting further information which would allow us to give that full consideration.”
The judicial review, which was requested by Cilldara Holdings Ltd in March and granted permission to proceed on Monday, will no doubt hold up the sale of the land.
It will also have a financial cost to the unitary authority, which has already issued a budget warning this year, with a black hole of several million.
The football club posted a statement on its website yesterday saying others were working against the club.
“It is frustrating, however this is not within the club’s control and this certainly delays progress on the East Stand until the matter is resolved due to the uncertainty of ownership of the land.
“The club will update supporters with information as it arrives, however the timing is in the hands of the court system, and having made an excellent start to the season, the club's full focus remains on the pitch.”
Beside concerns by the supporters trust, there is also concern among a group of Conservative councillors about the land deal.
In September, Cllr Paul Clark sent an email to leader Jonathan Nunn, copying in all members of the party and asking questions about how decisions had been made.
Read earlier reports on this long running story
Hush-hush: Council keeps higher rival bid quiet as Cobblers deal approved
Council leader now admits to discussions with Sixfields rival bidder
NN Journal was first to the news yesterday, beating all other media outlets when we exclusively revealed the judicial review on Twitter.
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Update on Kettering Asylum Seeker Hotel
In other legal news, North Northamptonshire Council put out a statement late yesterday to say that it had failed in its legal bid to take out an interim injunction against the Home Office’s plan to house asylum seekers at a Kettering Hotel.
The statement said:
“The council is keen to support the accommodation of asylum seekers within the area but feels that it is important that the location and accommodation is suitable for the purpose and that sufficient time is provided to properly consider issues of safety and the health of all parties concerned.
“Emergency injunction applications are considered by the Court without notice to the defendants and without the ability for them to make representations until a later date. The Court determined that they did not want to consider the application on this basis and that all parties should instead be given an opportunity to be heard at the outset. The application was therefore dismissed on this basis; the merits of the application were not considered.
“The council is considering whether it should make a further application for an injunction on notice and is awaiting the outcomes of other local authorities who have also taken legal action. It is also continuing to try and seek further confirmation from the Home Offices contractor on key information which will help the Council to support the housing of asylum seekers in suitable accommodation in North Northamptonshire.
It is not clear if this paves the way for the hotel to house asylum seekers. The authority did not answer NN Journal’s questions concerning the grounds it had sought the injunction and how much it had cost.
The injunction bid had been decided by the council’s leader and executive without agreement from the wider council.
Read our story from earlier in the week here.