Northampton Town: Council told of possible legal action over land sale

Cilldara has put West Northamptonshire Council on notice of possible legal proceedings over a sale of land near Sixfields stadium

A company whose offer to buy land next to a football stadium was turned down said local council tax payers had been "diddled" out of a million pounds.

Cilldara's £3m bid for land next to Northampton Town's Sixfields stadium was rejected by West Northamptonshire Council in favour of a lower offer.

The company said it had written to the authority to put them on notice of the possibility of a judicial review.

The council said it would respond after receiving the grounds of the claim.

Spokesman James McBride said "a lot will depend on the council's response".

Earlier this month, the Conservative-led authority approved a deal for £2m from County Developments Northampton Ltd (CDNL), a company owned by the club's owners, which also included an undertaking to complete the work on the ground's East Stand that has remained half-built for seven years.

Officers recommended the CDNL bid on the basis it would meet the council's obligations to obtain the best financial deal, offset potential legal challenges over the land's complex leasing arrangements and "increase the likelihood that the East Stand would be completed".

The council said on Wednesday it had received a letter from Cilldara Group advising the authority of its intention to take the land sale decision to a judicial review.

It said it had been told it would receive a formal letter later this week setting out the grounds of the company's claim.

"When we have this, we will be in a position to consider responding to the points they raise," a spokesman said.

'Best value for the rate payers'

Cilldara spokesman James McBride said "a lot will depend on the council's response"

Mr McBride told BBC Radio Northampton: "I won't go as far to say we're necessarily going to a judicial review, but we have had our solicitors and counsel look at the way the local council conducted themselves and whether it was in accordance with best practice to get best value for the rate payers."

He added that because Cilldara's offer exceeded CDNL's £2m bid "the rate payers are being diddled out of one million pounds".

In a statement, the council said: "Throughout the process we have obtained legal advice from a QC on the approach we have taken and were aware of the contentiousness of the decision and therefore likelihood of challenge.

"We are sending a preliminary response to this letter in response to their requests for information."

Mr McBride also claimed the council had previously indicated it would accept an offer from them.

Council leader Jonathan Nunn said he was unable to comment on this.

CDNL director and Northampton Town Chairman Kelvin Thomas said any judicial review would not consider the decision to sell them the land but would instead focus on the way it was made.

"If they're confident that they [the council] followed the appropriate process and and then got all the legal advice and they got everything else, then we can't really concern ourselves with that," he said.