Decision should be shareholders’

In its consultation document, the council said that the football club “could be amenable to the sale of the land” which was, and remains, untrue. I advised the planning officer at the Bishops Tachbrook meeting that the decision was not a matter for the board, but for the club’s shareholders, who had not been consulted.

When I lodged my objection to the proposed listing, countersigned by a number of other shareholders, I reiterated this point, advising that, whilst the directors owned 3.9 per cent of the shares, we collectively controlled 52.5 per cent and, should disposal for a Gypsy and traveller site be proposed by the board, the motion will be defeated.

Therefore, should the council look to proceed against our wishes, it will be forced into using compulsory purchase powers, something it has told the club that it has no intention of doing. Despite this, the council has now chosen the NWG as one of its sites, saying it “will be available within the first five years” which, unless the larger shareholders change their mind, is not going to happen.

In their responses to objections to the site on the Fosse Way (GT02), officers say “compulsory purchase would be a last resort and sites which are potentially available as owners are willing to consider selling land or implementing this use will take precedence.”

This site, together with others with unwilling vendors, is not recommended for approval whereas, despite the majority of shareholders being against a voluntary sale, the NWG has been included. There is clearly a lack of consistency and even-handiness here.

The first duty of the board of directors is to their shareholders. So far, over £400,000 has been spent acquiring and developing the NWG, of which £178,000 has been contributed in cash by shareholders, in addition to countless days of voluntary work. Has the board carried out a financial assessment of a move and, if so, how much of this would be recovered from a sale as a Gypsy and traveller site?

Thanks to the efforts of the Brakes Trust, the NWG is now a registered as an Asset of Community Value under the Localism Act 2011. It was developed as a sports stadium and should remain so for the benefit of the whole district that can ill-afford to lose such a facility.

David Hucker, Wimpstone, Stratford upon Avon