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Scarlets seek £2.6m council loan £2.6m Scarlets ground loan backed
(2 days later)
The Scarlets have asked Carmarthenshire Council for a £2.6m loan to help the club pay for its £23.1m new stadium. Councillors in Carmarthenshire have agreed to lend the Scarlets £2.6m to help pay for a new £23.1m stadium.
The rugby club says the cost of two public inquiries into plans to sell Stradey Park and develop 450 homes on the land has left a £5m shortfall. The rugby club said delays and the cost of fighting two public inquiries had left it with a £5m shortfall.
The request will be considered at a full council meeting on Wednesday. Council leader Meryl Gravell assured members the loan would have no impact on services or council tax.
Residents opposed to the redevelopment of the ground in Llanelli are urging councillors to refuse the loan and say they may seek a judicial review. But residents who had fought the plans claimed the authority had gone back on its word that council tax payers' money would not be used to fund the ground.
The new stadium at Pemberton is a joint project between the club and council. Opponents objected to 450 homes being built on the club's existing Stradey Park ground, which has been sold to developers to pay for a new 14,340 capacity stadium at Pemberton.
At the same meeting councillors will also be asked to endorse the findings of a public inquiry which has ruled the club should be allowed to develop housing on land at Stradey. Scarlets chairman Huw Evans told the meeting: "The reality is that we have sold Stradey - there's no going back - houses will be built on the site regardless."
He reacted angrily to claims the regional rugby club had been "mismanaged" and said it was the protesters' fault that the club had to seek a council loan.
Two public inquiries have been held over homes planned for Stradey
He said directors had put in millions of pounds of their own money and the club was one of the most successful in Europe, despite having one of the lowest wage bills.
After almost four hours' deliberations councillors finally voted 44 to 6 in favour of granting the loan, subject to a number of technicalities.
Objectors had threatened to seek a judicial review if the council made the loan but chief executive Mark James assured councillors any decision they made would be "legitimate, legal and lawful."
Speaking after the meeting, Richard Roper of the Stradey residents action group said: "I think the councillors have made a decision based on emotion rather than hard headed analysis of the situation.
"Council tax payers' money is being used to fund the stadium - we were assured that would not happen.
"I think we have expressed the concerns of a lot of people in Llanelli."
At the same meeting councillors also endorsed the findings of a public inquiry which had ruled all the land at Stradey could be built on.
Nearby resident Alun Davies had applied to have two training pitches bordering the ground designated a village green to prevent them being built on.Nearby resident Alun Davies had applied to have two training pitches bordering the ground designated a village green to prevent them being built on.
But barrister Anthony Porten QC, who conducted the inquiry, has recommended the application is rejected. But barrister Anthony Porten QC, who conducted the inquiry, had recommended the application was rejected.
Chief executive Stuart Gallacher had warned about planning delays
Scarlets chief executive Stuart Gallacher has warned for some time that delays caused by planning rows over the proposed housing could affect their ability to fund the stadium.
Scarlets directors say they will loan the club a further £2.8m.
Councillors are now being asked to help with the loan and to forward fund the Section 106 money - the cash developers are asked to contribute towards local infrastructure on large projects - to the club.
A report prepared for Wednesday's meeting highlights the economic and social benefits to Carmarthenshire if the stadium development goes ahead.
These include projections of an extra £7m being generated in the local economy and up to 250 new full-time jobs.
It states: "From an economic development, sporting and leisure perspective, the club is of very considerable importance to the town.
"It would be a considerable loss to the town if the club's viability were to cause its decline.
"Conversely, it would be of very considerable benefit if the club were able to improve its current contribution to the town."
But the Stradey Residents' Association has written to every councillor urging them to refuse the loan.
Richard Roper said they had warned all along the club would struggle to pay for the new stadium, which it is jointly developing with the council.
"We have said from day one that the figures don't stack up - they just can't afford it," said Mr Roper.
"If the councillors do vote to use council tax payers money to fund such a project they do leave themselves open to judicial review."