Northampton Town: £3m bid not a factor in land sale decision

The deal between West Northamptonshire Council and Northampton Town is worth £2.05m

A land deal that could see Northampton Town's East Stand finally finished was agreed despite an alternative offer being increased by almost £1m.

West Northamptonshire Council confirmed a £3m bid from developer Cilldara "was not recommended to members" at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

Finance member Malcolm Longley said a decision to sell the land to the club's owners was based on officer advice.

Cilldara has been approached for comment.

The Conservative-run council's cabinet agreed to accept a £2.05m offer from County Developments (Northampton) Ltd (CDNL) - a company owned by the football club's chairman and his business partner.

The owners of Northampton Town will now buy the undeveloped land next to the stadium

The deal includes an undertaking from CDNL to complete work on the East Stand within five years.

The stand was supposed to be refurbished using a £10.25m loan from Northampton Borough Council, but work stalled in 2014 after contractors went unpaid.

If the stand is not finished, West Northants Council, which replaced Northampton Borough Council, will be entitled to buy back some of the land, part of which had been a former waste site, for £1.

The authority and CDNL had previously reached a deal in theory for the land to be sold for £890,000, but it collapsed when it was revealed the valuation of the land had not been sufficiently robust.

Developer Cilldara made an alternative bid of £2.05m, before the club reacted by matching that amount.

The changes in offer led to the council deferring a decision on the deal and then announcing it would make a final decision at Tuesday's cabinet meeting.

Prior to that meeting Cilldara once again increased its offer, this time to £3m.

Construction on the East Stand at Northampton Town's Sixfields stadium was halted when contractors went unpaid in 2014

But the council voted to accept CDNL's lower bid.

On Wednesday it confirmed: "An alternative £3m bid from development company Cilldara was not recommended to members as the professional assessment of best consideration recommended the CDNL offer for financial reasons, as stated in the report."

The report said that while the offer was lower "on a per-acre basis it offers the immediate and unconditional release" of the land's lease.

It also said the "ancillary benefit" of the East Stand being completed was a factor.

The disposal of the land had been the subject of long-running negotiations between the club and the old borough council.

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Mr Longley said the new council's decision had been based on officers' advice "along with specialist advice".

"We have decided the CDNL bid is the most prudent of the two options," he said.

Cilldara has previously written to the council saying it would "reserve the right to launch a judicial review" if the authority accepted a lower offer from CDNL.

In that letter, the company said it had been able to increase its own offer, at that stage up to £2.05m, as it has "more than 40 years' experience in remediating contaminated land and have an extensive highly skilled workforce".

The BBC has approached the Cilldara for comment following the council decision to sell the land to CDNL.