Agenda and decisions

Salford City Council - Record of Decision

I, Paul Dennett, City Mayor in exercise of the powers contained within the Council Constitution do hereby:

1.    Note that the Stadium was constructed always with the local community in mind. It provides a valuable local asset and employer for the local area with benefits including:-

·       It employs approximately 250 people and indirectly through its supply chain is a significant employer in the city. An estimated 5,000 more jobs will be created by the development at the site - benefiting the economy of Salford, both through increases in business rate income, introduction of new businesses and additional wages.

·       The stadium is the base for the Salford Red Devils Foundation which undertakes significant community based work throughout the City including delivering programmes relating to public health and skills and work such as smoking cessation, tackling obesity and bringing people into employment.

·       The 2,000sqm of event and conference space at the AJ Bell Stadium is seeing tremendous growth in use with revenues up 14% on last year. The delivery of events requires a significant supply chain, much of which is locally sourced.  Significant expenditure is incurred each year with businesses, many of which are SMEs, which helps to drive forward the local and regional economy.

·       The commercial and community use of the secondary grass and 3G pitches is increasing rapidly.  The pitches are used by both the Salford Red Devils and Sale Sharks on match days to hold mini rugby festivals involving local and regional schools and discounted rates are given to charities for their event use.

·       Over the course of a year, approximately 2,500 children are involved in pre-match events at the Stadium with thousands more involved in community events, soccer leagues and charity runs held at the venue.

2. In order to sustain this improvement in performance, approve the City Council’s provision of financial resources in the form of a repayable interest bearing loan of up to £632,500 to the City of Salford Community Stadium (COSCOS). This is to be on a 50:50 basis with Peel Holdings for the financial period to 31^st March 2018 and the £632,500 being the Council’s 50% share.
3. Delegate to the Monitoring Officer the completion of all the necessary legal and ancillary documentation identified as necessary to give effect to recommendation 2 above.

4.    Note that due to interest payments being received from COSCOS during 2017/18 the Council will not need to undertake additional borrowing to fund the loan payment.

5.    Note that the funding request is £0.093m less than the projected cash flow requirement for 2017/18 calculated at this time last year. 

The Stadium is a major catalyst in the regeneration of this part of Salford and in addition to Port Salford and the new A57 road scheme will generate up to five thousand new employment opportunities through development at the site.

The Stadium’s success continues to grow and will generate increased and additional revenues including planned major concerts. This loan will ensure  ...  view the full decision text for item 2.