Cobblers welcome news that WNC will discuss East Stand development at council meeting

Cobblers have welcomed the news that West Northants Council are set to discuss the Sixfields development proposal at a full meeting later this month.

The council and the club reached an agreement in principle last November but plans to discuss that deal were then put on hold as a new valuation was needed on the land.

However, a special full council meeting has been scheduled for February 21 before the matter goes to a special cabinet meeting the week after.

The council received a separate £2.05m bid for the land from property developer Cilldara but plans to reject this in favour of a deal with the club.

Cllr Malcolm Longley, Cabinet Member for Finance, said: "The recommendation of officers to accept the CDNL bid is on balance the most prudent option, and therefore the intended route forward."

Cobblers chairman Kelvin Thomas said: “We have always been supportive that the process needs to be as robust, transparent and open as possible which is why we ourselves released all the information online when available and also held an open house event to discuss the proposal with our fans and the wider community, which was very well received.

“The council have rightly followed their own very robust process and we have been informed they have now completed all the necessary valuations and obtained the appropriate legal advice on the matter so are in position to take this to full council and cabinet for a decision.

“Obviously with a competing bid it did add another level of detail required for the council however our offer is the only one that will deliver the completion of the East Stand and keeps the ownership within the football club, rather than with unknown property developers. This is something that every fan of the club would have been concerned about.

“We have always been very consistent about the benefits for the football club and the backing of 97.6 per cent of our fans shows that we are not alone in this belief. The online poll left us in no doubt that the huge majority of our fans at the club were behind the proposals and we thank you all for your support.

“Many fans have asked us what they can do to help and all we can say at this point is speak to your local councillor and let them know of your support of the proposals.”