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happen Will Swindon's council tax payers

, FIRM, Hon FICDDS
have to pay for this stadium?
esidents and the environment. Par- taxpayers, that will bear the financial
icularly. as the liability for any injury burden and not the developer. West Swindon Councillor Nick Martin (for Shaw & Nine
r damage caused by the hazards I believe it is clear that the pro- Elms) outlines the problems of financing a new stadium
iscussed above is highly likely to posed St. Modwen Properties plc There are dozens of reasons why 5. St. Modwen Properties plc state
emain with Swindon Borough Coun- project at Shaw Forest Country Park destroying Shaw Community Forest thatthey will not invest any money in
1 and therefore if compensation or is fatally flawed and should be con- to build a stadium is an awful idea. Swindon;
ther additional costs have to paid signed to where it belongs - the However, I have been asked to sum-
6. St. Modwen Properties plc also
ut it will be the residents, as local dustbin! marize the financial puzzle and ex-
state that they 'do not come cheap.'
plain why residents may be forced to
eferences It therefore seems that they charge
Plans for stadium unveiled today'. Swin- 8 Prior. M'Stadium would be a disaster for fund the multi-million pound scheme substantial commission on the prop-
on Evening Advertiser (SEA-22 March wildlife, (SEA-7 April 2004) and councillors may be taken to court
erty deals that they arrange:
9 January 2001. Wiltshire Structure Plan and fined.
Kane. K'The deadly waste buried at the 2011: A joint Replacement Structure Plan Three years ago the football club 7. Swindon Council own 90 percent
p', (SEA-22 October 2002) covering the Administrative Areas of Swin- proposed a new stadium near Junc- of the land under discussion and
Short. JF 'We're proud of this former don Borough Council and Wiltshire County tion 16. This sounded an excellent don't require St. Modwen Properties
ndfill site', (SEA-28 September 2000) Council, Adopted Explanatory Memoran- plc to teach them howto make money
dum & Written Statement, Wiltshire County idea, but the stadium was to be
'Records of toxic waste are missing'. by giving planning permission on
EA-10 August 2002) Council. Trowbridge. owned by an investment company
10 Offen. T (25 March 2004), 'Same old associated with Swindon Town FC farmland or brown-field sites:
'Records of toxic waste are missing'.
EA-10 August 2002) Swindon.' This is Swindon Town F.C. and the money was to be found by 8. If by some miracle it was safe to
website: www.thisisswindontownfc.co.uk/
Brown, J. and Sime, (1981). J.A. A Meth- f ens .. postbagStory. asp ? N ews I D=282 allowing this company to buy and build on the Shaw Community For-
dology for Accounts in Social Method and 11 & 12 Heath and Safety Executive. sell Swindon Council land at a huge est the Council would have to give
ocial Life. fed. M. Brenner), Academic
website: www.hse.gov.uk/aboutus/meet- profit. planning permission for the devel-
ress.London.
ings/ilgra/pppa.htm#1 Effectively the Council would have opment. This would raise the land
Short. J. F, 'We're proud of this former
ndfill site', (SEA-28 September 2000) been giving millions of pounds away value from £3,000 per acre to
and councillors mightwell have been £1 .000,000 and this massive devel-
prosecuted. When the members opment gain should belong to the
understood their personal risk the Swindon council taxpayer and not to
^ ^ t
scheme was dropped. the invest- St Modwen:
ment company left town and the 9. It is alleged that St Modwen wish
football club went into financial ad-
f ministration. to be given a long term lease on the
Community Forest land and plan-
1. Today, financial support for the ning approval for development!;
stadium is a mystery but St. Modwen
10 My advisers tell me that Swindon
Properties plc are very keen to pro-
mote the scheme and some facts do Borough Council has no legal au-
exist: thority to fund private football clubs
or property speculators and that any
1. Swindon Town FC has no money
action that effectively gives council
to build its own stadium;
tax payers money away will lead to
s^. Lt 2. Swindon Town don't own the the prosecution and legal surcharge
County Ground stadium; (to be heavily fined) of those in-
volved.
3. The County Ground and the ad-
jacent athletics track is owned by So, in summary, every aspect of this
Swindon Borough Council (the coun- development scheme points to
cil tax payer): money that rightfully belongs to the
taxpayer ending up in developer's
4. Shaw Community Forest Coun-
pockets. I cannot support such a
try Park and the tip land north of
project and neither can my fellow
Barnfield Road depot is all owned by
Swindon Borough Council; West Swindon councillors.
I 4 Four things you can do:
,
Attend the public presentations of the plans and model and talk
to representatives from Swindon Town Football Club
and St. Modwen Properties plc on:
• Thursday 29 April, 2pm to 8pm. Roughmoor Social Hall,
Swinley Drive, Peatmoor. West Swindon
• Thursday 6 May, 1 pm to 8pm. Swindon Town Football Club,
County Ground, Swindon
2. Attend a protest outing on Mead Way on Saturday 1 May,
1 2 noon. Gather at Hillmead Industrial Estate, between Clarion
and Skurrays Vauxhall. Wear strong shoes and visible clothing.
3. Then take a stroll around the Shaw Forest Country Park
on 1 May at 12.15pm to symbolically stake the
Image provided by
community's claim to it.
St. Modwen Properties plc .0
with annotations added for clarity' 4. Send your views to www.swindonlink.com