Wycombe District Council explains 'cross financing' plan for Wanderers and Wasps stadium
4:34pm Friday 29th January 2010 in News By Neil Phillips
Council explains funding plan for stadium investment
COUNCIL chiefs have explained how they could help finance a new stadium for Wycombe Wanderers and London Wasps.
They stressed it would not cost anything extra to the tax payer and cash would be raised through a process called ‘cross financing’.
Wycombe District Council, which has yet to agree on the plan, would raise money for the multi-million pound investment through a process called ‘cross-financing’ – the same way the MK Dons’ and Reading’s Madejski stadiums were funded.
Charles Brocklehurst, head of property services at the council, explained first the council has to establish there is a need and justification for a new stadium to exist – if it does, this is called ‘enabling development’ and money can be raised.
This would probably be done by selling land already owned by the council.
But any money raised from this sale could only be used to invest in the stadium project – local government rules mean it could not be used for the day-to-day running of the council or on other facilities, such as Holywell Mead swimming pool.
Mr Brocklehurst said: “It’s not a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul.
“All stadium developments throughout the country have been brought about through the means of cross financing.
“You generate the funds in order to spend them.
“It’s not taking away from anywhere else. It’s about creating new means for a specific purpose.”
Cross-financing is also the process by which the council invested in Wycombe’s Eden shopping centre, which opened in 2008.
Mr Brocklehurst said low-value lands could be considered for sale.
However, the council could justify increasing that value by trying to get its use reallocated. For example, if planning approval was obtained, and other conditions met, a derelict patch of land could be reallocated as land suitable for development. This would boost the market value of the land, which could then be sold on for a greater sum.
But Mr Brocklehurst stressed the project would be a “separate entity” to the day to day workings and finances of the council and money raised would be “completely ring fenced” for the new project.
He added the sale of land to finance the day-to-day running of the council was not possible.
He said to do so would be like “people mortgaging their houses up to the hilt to buy hi-fis”.
He added: “If you’re creating capital for a capital project, you can’t use the capital to dip into.”
The Bucks Free Press understands the council would be a major investor and other parties are being sought for the stadium project, which could cost up to £30m.
Comments(29)
michael healy
says...
5:49pm Fri 29 Jan 10
Get a grip WDC...........WE DONT WANT TO FUND THE PRIVATE SECTOR MILLIONAIRES, LET THEM SPEND THEIR OWN MONEY AND NOT OURS!!!!!!
yog
says...
6:01pm Fri 29 Jan 10
What planet are these people on???
If it is Council owned it is us the Tax payer who owns it. I don't want our assets sold off to pay for a stadium Wycombe Wanderers fans don't want.
readerabc
says...
6:26pm Fri 29 Jan 10
i hate wathcing football and rubgy, so why should my councils assets be used for a non essential service?
DONT FUND THE STADIUM
let WWFC or wasps buy a stadium if they need
wayneo
says...
6:38pm Fri 29 Jan 10
If the so called low value land can be reallocated, it could be done at any time, not just for this monster. Land that is available for development would fetch a good price regardless of whether the money was ringfenced for a stadium.
many grants that are being used for building this stadium for multi-millionaire Hayes, could be used for smaller businesses to help develop them.
DeepThinker
says...
6:45pm Fri 29 Jan 10
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Part of that profit will be used to pay off Wycombe Wanderers.
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Hayes will make sure that Wasps get preference when it comes to use of the new stadium - even if he is renting from the council.
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There is a good possibility that Wycombe Wanderers will not be able to survive - especially if they drop down the leagues.
'
In the end Hayes will have got what he wanted all along: A ground for "London Wasps".
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He always intended to take over the football club, to use it to get the new stadium, then cast it adrift.
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He will not have lost a single penny, yet magically he can now rent a brand new, 20,000 seater stadium.
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And the football club? What does he care?
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Stop this madness before it is too late.
Voyeur
says...
6:54pm Fri 29 Jan 10
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Perhaps Mr Brocklehurst could tell us a bit more about the "cross financing" involved in the Eden project.
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In any event, if WDC sells off land it owns (and which has a potential capital gain and revenue stream coming from that), if the investment in the Football Stadium does not pay off, then it WILL BE the taxpayers who suffer.
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There will be a cost to the taxpayer and Mr Brocklehurst should acknowledge that.
ferrellcat
says...
7:25pm Fri 29 Jan 10
Mutley
says...
7:52pm Fri 29 Jan 10
So, by my reckoning, at the end of the project we should still own x million pounds of assets but maybe in a different place. Is that what's being said?
sladegreen
says...
8:17pm Fri 29 Jan 10
Red Fred
says...
8:19pm Fri 29 Jan 10
~
Cutting through all the bull, this millionaire thinks that buying the council members a few presents means he can do what he wants.
~
So, in comparison, if I buy the manager at Tesco (or any supermarket) a nice christmas present and he or she lets me off a weeks shopping, that would be illegal wouldn't it?
Where's the difference here?
J B Blackett
says...
9:39pm Fri 29 Jan 10
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Their agenda has nothing to do with the welfare of the folk of Wycombe and District . Nothing at all.
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It could explain all the sale of assets and closure of facilities in the past six months.
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Please Notice : Still no word at all from the usually verbose (absent ?) prospective Conservative MP. Draw even more conclusions. What's happening to poor old degraded , municipally vandalised and despised Wycombe ?
chris740
says...
10:02pm Fri 29 Jan 10
but all depends on how much the back hander is
The Judge
says...
10:06pm Fri 29 Jan 10
WRITE TO YOUR M.P. GET THESE IDIOTS OUT NOW !!
JUDGE
ivor
says...
3:23am Sat 30 Jan 10
~
The stadium fiasco is merely the latest in a long line of clangers from the Council.
~
Have you read Ivor’s blog today? Click on the “YOUR SAY” link at the top of the page then click on “BLOGS”.
wayneo
says...
8:17am Sat 30 Jan 10
Phredd
says...
9:54am Sat 30 Jan 10
Last night I downloaded, from the WDC website, a copy of the Sports Development Stategy.
The three most important projects identified are:
Replacement Sports Centre
New Stadium for Wanderers/Wasps
New Sports Facilities for Bucks New Uni
Who made up the committee producing this strategy?
A couple of people from WDC, someone from Bucks Sport, someone from the company then running the sports centre, someone from Bucks New Uni and Steve Hayes from Wanderers/Wasps.
Am I now suprised about this funding proposal?
yog
says...
1:19pm Sat 30 Jan 10
http://www.writetoth
em.com/
The Conservative leadership have again shown they are out of touch with not just wycombe residents but also their own Councillors.
Demand to know what 'gifts' have been paid to your Councillor.
Wycombe fans don't want this only London wasps fans who don't spend a penny in wycombe.
Stop the waste
Phredd
says...
2:08pm Sat 30 Jan 10
yog wrote:I've lived in the Wycombe area for over 40 years and have been a fan of Wasps (note like nearly all Wasps fans I don't use the word London - it was only added to the name a few years ago - for over 140 years it was just plain Wasps) for over 50 years.
Contact your Councillor at
http://www.writetoth
em.com/
The Conservative leadership have again shown they are out of touch with not just wycombe residents but also their own Councillors.
Demand to know what 'gifts' have been paid to your Councillor.
Wycombe fans don't want this only London wasps fans who don't spend a penny in wycombe.
Stop the waste
I do want them here.
What I don't want is WDC spending any money derived from my Council Tax helping to pay for a stadium for professional sports teams.
Elmo
says...
3:33pm Sat 30 Jan 10
Phredd wrote:Yep, after 8 years here there may be more local Wasps fans the people give credit for.
yog wrote:I've lived in the Wycombe area for over 40 years and have been a fan of Wasps (note like nearly all Wasps fans I don't use the word London - it was only added to the name a few years ago - for over 140 years it was just plain Wasps) for over 50 years.
Contact your Councillor at
http://www.writetoth
em.com/
The Conservative leadership have again shown they are out of touch with not just wycombe residents but also their own Councillors.
Demand to know what 'gifts' have been paid to your Councillor.
Wycombe fans don't want this only London wasps fans who don't spend a penny in wycombe.
Stop the waste
I do want them here.
What I don't want is WDC spending any money derived from my Council Tax helping to pay for a stadium for professional sports teams.
towncryer
says...
4:17pm Sat 30 Jan 10
Elmo wrote:Issue isnt Wasps or Wanderers
Phredd wrote:Yep, after 8 years here there may be more local Wasps fans the people give credit for.yog wrote: Contact your Councillor at http://www.writetoth em.com/ The Conservative leadership have again shown they are out of touch with not just wycombe residents but also their own Councillors. Demand to know what 'gifts' have been paid to your Councillor. Wycombe fans don't want this only London wasps fans who don't spend a penny in wycombe. Stop the wasteI've lived in the Wycombe area for over 40 years and have been a fan of Wasps (note like nearly all Wasps fans I don't use the word London - it was only added to the name a few years ago - for over 140 years it was just plain Wasps) for over 50 years. I do want them here. What I don't want is WDC spending any money derived from my Council Tax helping to pay for a stadium for professional sports teams.
- it the fact a millionaire is effectivelly beiing bankrolled by the residents of Wycombe
SEND YOUR OWN MONEY HAYES !!!
WYCOMBE NEED ITS FUNDS FOR THE PEOPLE AND LOCAL COMMUNITY !!!
towncryer
says...
4:18pm Sat 30 Jan 10
Elmo wrote:SPEND YOUR OWN MONEY HAYES !!!
Phredd wrote:Yep, after 8 years here there may be more local Wasps fans the people give credit for.yog wrote: Contact your Councillor at http://www.writetoth em.com/ The Conservative leadership have again shown they are out of touch with not just wycombe residents but also their own Councillors. Demand to know what 'gifts' have been paid to your Councillor. Wycombe fans don't want this only London wasps fans who don't spend a penny in wycombe. Stop the wasteI've lived in the Wycombe area for over 40 years and have been a fan of Wasps (note like nearly all Wasps fans I don't use the word London - it was only added to the name a few years ago - for over 140 years it was just plain Wasps) for over 50 years. I do want them here. What I don't want is WDC spending any money derived from my Council Tax helping to pay for a stadium for professional sports teams.
WYCOMBE NEED ITS FUNDS FOR THE PEOPLE AND LOCAL COMMUNITY !!!
Stefan J
says...
7:56pm Sat 30 Jan 10
Red Fred wrote:Fred that has to be the best blog I have read. Dolphin speak. Genius absolute Genius.
Sounds a bit like 'dolphin speak' to me. You know they are intelligent but you don't understand a word of it! And I for one, don't trust not being able to understand it. ~ Cutting through all the bull, this millionaire thinks that buying the council members a few presents means he can do what he wants. ~ So, in comparison, if I buy the manager at Tesco (or any supermarket) a nice christmas present and he or she lets me off a weeks shopping, that would be illegal wouldn't it? Where's the difference here?
As for the buying the manager at Tesco a christmas present, illegal or not I bet the shareholders would have something to say. And said manager would be shipped out sharpish. Tesco's board wouldn't wait for the next election. So can we ship Clarkey & her croonies out sharpish? the sharper the better I would suggest.
hondo
says...
10:47am Sun 31 Jan 10
wayneo
says...
4:25pm Sun 31 Jan 10
hondo wrote:It's the byproduct of Councils trying to operate as businesses; Unfortunately, if the Council gets it wrong (as they had done, on many occasions), they just charge us more.
Is that the same "cross financing" that lost millions of pounds of ratepayers' money in Iceland? That's the sort of financing which makes me cross.
Voyeur
says...
1:03am Fri 5 Feb 10
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Nevertheless I told her my views but I got nothing back in return.
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Democracy in action I guess.
wayneo
says...
10:54am Fri 5 Feb 10
Voyeur wrote:It's not confidential at all, it is open to scrutiny, they don't want it out in the open because they have much to hide, the whole business stinks to high heavens and they will be subject to an audit challenge.
I tried to talk to my local district councillor about this issue but she said it was "on pink paper" meaning it was confidential and she could not talk about it. . Nevertheless I told her my views but I got nothing back in return. . Democracy in action I guess.
wayneo
says...
11:05am Fri 5 Feb 10
simonrennie
says...
8:12am Fri 12 Feb 10
towncryer says...
5:39pm Fri 29 Jan 10
Brocklehurst gave us Eden and that killed off the High Street!!!
This will mean more assets being sold off . WDC sold Bassetsbury Manor,they will sell Cressex Island and HAndycross i expect and also other large chunks of land across the town !!!
Residents want the proceeds of these sales to be spent on Community Halls and Sports based activies across the Town . We dont want it on a Stadium !!!