Northampton Town Supporters' Trust raises concerns over land deal

The completion of the East Stand at Northampton Town's Sixfields stadium is part of the land deal agreed by councillors

Northampton Town's Supporters' Trust said it has "grave concerns" over a land deal which could see the club's half-built stand finally completed.

West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) agreed an offer from the club's owners to buy land next to the ground after years of wrangling.

The offer includes an undertaking to complete the work on the East Stand.

But in a letter to WNC, the trust said there was an "absence of basic safeguards" over completing the stand.

The deal will see two portions of the land being sold to County Developments (Northampton) Ltd (CDNL) for £2.05m.

According to the agreement, work on the East Stand must be finished within five years or the council would be entitled to buy back part of the site for £1.

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

But the letter said Jonathan Nunn, when leader of Northampton Borough Council (NBC), said the owners of the club "would not be permitted to acquire the land adjacent to Sixfields Stadium unless and until the East Stand was completed to a satisfactory standard".

Mr Nunn is now leader of WNC which replaced NBC as part of a reorganisation of local government in the county.

The letter, written by John Morgan, the trust's acting secretary and legal adviser, said he was "dismayed to see [in the deal] no such provision or condition for 'stand first' has been included or even mentioned".

"The council is failing badly the supporters of the football club and the residents and taxpayers of Northampton," the letter said.

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A spokesman for Northampton Town Football Club said the terms of the deal "have been available publicly for a month or so and there are clear protections in [the deal] for the stand to be completed in a set period of time and these will follow through to the legal agreements".

He said "the club are just getting on with things" and were having meetings with a contractor about the East Stand.

"The club want to move forward as soon as we can and again, as already stated, any delay will be detrimental to the football club," he added.

West Northamptonshire Council has been contacted for comment.

The East Stand was supposed to be refurbished using a £10.25m loan from Northampton Borough Council, but work stalled in 2014, under the club's previous owners, after contractors went unpaid.