Businessman sells Etihad Campus plots to United fans

A BUSINESSMAN whose site is under threat of Compulsory Purchase Order by the new Etihad Campus in east Manchester has subdivided his land into 5,000 individual plots which he is selling to Manchester United fans.

Shaun O’Brien of OB Truck Services is selling the 1 sq ft plots at £250 each, which would make him £1.25m if he manages to sell them all.

Mr O’Brien is selling the plots via his website, Unite Against City, after failing to agree a price with the club for the land.

On his site, Mr O’Brien claimed that he had taken action because the club “will not negotiate reasonably”.

“We first got the idea from the situation with the Chelsea pitch owners, who managed to let Mr Abramovich know that his millions couldn’t get him what he wanted,” it states.

“Almost 360 degrees around us has been sold to City already. Their work has begun and a fortune is being spent on the land while they are refusing to do the right thing and negotiate properly with us.”

Manchester City Council has already issued a compulsory purchase order for the land which, if granted, could mean that fans who buy plots would be forced to sell at a lower price than they have paid for them.

A council spokesman said: “Anyone buying land, even a small plot, should take independent legal advice and inspect the land before buying. By Mr O’Brien’s own admission on his website, there is absolutely no guarantee that anyone buying one of these plots of land would be able to recover their costs.

“We have made a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO ) for this land. This would not have been necessary if Mr O’Brien had been prepared to sell it at a realistic price and accept the football club’s offer of help to relocate his business.

“The Unite Against City scheme is in no one’s best interests except Mr O’Brien’s. The valuation he is placing on this land is far in excess of anything in Manchester and would make it equivalent to the most expensive plots in the most exclusive areas of London.

“However, it will not significantly impact on this ambitious regeneration scheme because it was always recognised that there was a possibility a CPO might be necessary and ultimately the government will decide whether to grant the order based on what is in the public interest.”

Manchester City has already gained outline planning permission to convert an 80 acre site (which includes Mr O’Brien’s plot) into a training complex featuring a 7,000-seat arena, player and youth accommodation, a media centre, 12 full-size and two half-size football pitches, an Institute for Sports Medicine and a 600-place sixth-form college.

The bulk of the land on which it is looking to build is the former Clayton Aniline site which is already in Manchester City Council’s hands.