NEWS FROM THE SUPPORTERS TRUST…
Sixfields stand and land deal
· Based on recent comments made by club chairman Kelvin Thomas, we are anticipating that an agreed deal between County Developments (Northampton) Ltd/Northampton Town Football Club and West Northamptonshire Council, in respect of the sale of land to the north and east of Sixfields stadium, will be announced shortly.
To date, the Supporters Trust has not received a reply from the council to its letter dated 24 November 2023 which was shared with Trust members.
We twice chased council leader Jonathan Nunn, without receiving the courtesy of a reply to our correspondence, asking for an update on the terms of the deal, so that we can relay this information to our members at the Annual General Meeting later this month. A Freedom of Information request has also been submitted to the council asking for, amongst other information, a copy of the signed Heads of Terms between the parties to the land sale agreement.
Councillor Nunn told a full council meeting a few months ago that the deal did not require further Cabinet approval. However, we are keen to establish whether a clause in the contract – allowing a five-year option on the completion of the East Stand, otherwise club land behind the stand will be bought back by the council for £1 – remains in place.
The Trust’s consistent position throughout this long saga has been that any deal should enable the certain completion of the stand and that the former community land behind the East Stand should not be allowed to be developed for a warehouse to be built across half the area. Should this not be the case, we firmly believe the best interests of the football club are not being served.
We also consider that Councillor Nunn’s repeated failure to address correspondence from the Supporters Trust over a long period of time is completely unacceptable.
A complaint about his conduct has been lodged with the council’s Monitoring Officer and hopefully we will receive a response to our questions before the AGM and so be in a position to update members accordingly.
2023 Annual General Meeting
· The 2023 Annual General Meeting of the Supporters Trust will take place on 22 February 2024 at the Obelisk Centre, Obelisk Rise, Northampton. Please check your spam folders if you have not received information or contact us at ntfctrust1992@gmail.com
Cobblers Travel
· Tuesday 5 March – Peterborough United, 7.45pm
Saturday 16 March – Wycombe Wanderers, 3pm
For further information, please contact travel club secretary Roger Averill on 07802 437422.
