Council to commit £22m to Reds stadium
SALFORD City Council is funding the new Salford City Reds stadium with a £22m loan and a contribution of land worth £6.7m.
The figures are revealed in the council’s unaudited annual accounts for the year to March which are available to view at the municipal offices and online.
The council has formed a joint venture with Peel to deliver the 15-000 capacity stadium – which will be home to the Super League club by December 2011. The joint venture company, called COSCOS, will manage the stadium, with the Reds having a licence to use it.
A note in the accounts states: “The council contributed land valued at £6.7m in consideration for shares issued at par and will finance the joint venture with a development loan facility of up to £22m.”
The North West Regional Development Agency (NWDA) has paid £4m to cover the cost of preparing the Barton site for development. Construction is due to start in October. The council and Peel have pooled their landholdings to create a single, 70-acre site.
The council has previously said the loan will eventually be repaid by income from the facility and by selling the developed land to retail tenants.
Under the original plans, Salford City College – an amalgamation of three further education colleges – was due to build a campus on site but in June 2009 it was announced that the project had failed to attract funding from the Learning and Skills Council.
A delivery date of December 2011 has been agreed for the stadium in order to boost the Reds’ bid for a new Super League licence earlier in the year – and to be ready for the 2012 Super League season.
