Call for business case and Yearsley guarantee

Liberal Democrat councillors are calling for guarantees over the future of Yearsley Pool and more information on the financial plan for York’s Community Stadium.

The Lib Dems have ‘called-in’ the Labour Cabinet’s decision last week to approve plans for York’s Community Stadium.

The decision will now be re-considered at a cross-party scrutiny meeting on Friday 26^th September.

Under the latest plans for the stadium and leisure complex at Huntington, total costs for the scheme rise to £37m and the Council will borrow an extra £4m towards financing the project.

The plans have been attacked by users of Yearsley Pool, which could close under the proposals, and York City Knights, whose chairman says the scheme would leave the club “70% worse off”.

 

Cllr Ian Cuthbertson, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Leisure, Culture and Tourism, commented:

“The Liberal Democrats are committed to the community stadium project, which we began before 2011. Our vision was to develop a stadium hand-in-hand with local residents, delivering what the city needs and providing a sustainable future for both York City FC and York City Knights. Under Labour, the project has now fallen two years behind schedule, costs have risen, key information is being withheld and decisions are being taken behind closed doors.

“Labour have failed to reveal any business case for their latest proposals and there is no analysis of the other bids which were put forward to build the stadium. Worryingly, details on certain aspects – such as a £12million land deal – are not there either. The Rugby League club has raised concerns and there was no public consultation with users of Waterworld (which will close under Labour’s plans), local Huntington residents or the public more generally. All of these issues need to be addressed before we can back the plans.

“Labour will no doubt say that we shouldn’t be asking these questions and we should just approve the scheme. However, this project will cost £37m and for the sake of York’s residents we need to get it right.”

Cllr Cuthbertson also highlighted concerns over the future of Yearsley Pool under the leisure plans:

“The Labour Cabinet has left the future of Yearsley up in the air with plans to withdraw funding and carry out a review into the future of the pool in 2016. We are calling for Labour to make a straightforward commitment to keeping Yearsley Pool open in the long-term. This is a unique 50 yard pool, which is well-used and very popular with both local residents and the many clubs who use it.”

Liberal Democrat Councillors Nigel Ayre, Ian Cuthbertson and Keith Orrell have called-in the Labour Cabinet’s decision. A review of the decision will be taken on Friday 26^th September (5pm) at the cross-party Corporate and Scrutiny Management Committee (CSMC). The councillors have given the following reasons:

We contnue to support the building of a community stadium, but have a number of concerns over the report approved by Cabinet. These include:

• – The failure to publish a business plan, an analysis of the four bids or any detail on the commercial land deal.
• – The failure to consult key groups such as the users of Waterworld or local residents in Huntington.
• – The lack of any evidence of genuine community input into the proposals or proper cross-party discussion.
• – The failure to commit to keeping Yearsley Pool open in the long-term
• – The concerns raised publicly by the Chairman of York City Knights.
• – The lack of an assessment of the impact the new proposals will have on the city-centre.