Salford City Council has been urged to share the total cost of its deal to buy the city’s community stadium.
The council wrapped up a deal to buy the stadium earlier this month, to buy out the remaining half owned by Peel.
The stadium is home to Salford Red Devils and Sale Sharks rugby clubs, and the council’s deal has been seen as a lifeline for Salford Reds as it could open up opportunities for the club to keep more money it earns on match days.
Salford City Mayor Paul Dennett told the Local Democracy Reporting Service in February that the overall cost of the purchase could be around £2 million, as well as around £30 million of debt owed by the stadium company CosCos.
But Salford Conservatives leader Robin Garrido has claimed the cost will be much higher, and that it has been kept secret from Salford residents.
When Salford City Council’s cabinet approved the decision to buy the stadium earlier this month, some of the details of the deal were discussed behind closed doors in part two of a report.
The council said part two of the report contained “financial and commercially confidential information about the council, a council company and a private company.”
It added that sharing the information “may prevent or prejudice the deal taking place.”
Mr Garrido, who has seen this part of the report but is not allowed to share it, said buying the stadium is set to cost the council “millions of pounds over the next few years,” and warned that residents could be forced to pay more in council tax to fund it.
He added: “We’re extremely disappointed that the council has not listened to our arguments.
“The main worry is the cost to the council taxpayers – they are the losers in this – and the £30 million of debt the council is taking on.
“We can’t say what’s in part two of the report, but we are not happy about that, we think the public should know about it.
“We have seen councils in other parts of the country getting section 114 notices and I think there’s a danger of that here with this sort of debt.
“Let’s not forget that this council already owes around £800 million. It’s a lot of money and we are adding to that and I think it will put the council in a precarious position and the only way to get over that is putting up council tax.”
On September 23, the stadium deal was discussed by the council’s Growth and Prosperity Scrutiny Panel after the decision was ‘called in’ for further debate by the Conservative group.
Salford’s deputy mayor Jack Youd criticised the move, saying the Conservatives were using Salford Reds to score political points.
He said: “Salford Reds, a 150-year-old institution, are being used as a political football by the Conservatives.
“It was my view that the call in was really just a Trojan Horse to have one last dig at the cabinet and city mayor’s decision.
“They [the Conservatives] did a real disservice to people in this city.”
A spokesperson from Salford City Council said: “The council currently owns 50 percent of the company and is limited by government grant restrictions to retain the community stadium to 2028 with tenancy agreements in place until 2037.
“The council’s full acquisition of the company will provide the council with greater control over all of the company’s land and property assets to support the strategic regeneration potential of the site and redevelopment of the wider area around the stadium.”
