Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Council will bankroll new development

Well it is a great time to get in debt of course and the Bears will be loaned a cool £20 million (30 year loan, 5% interest) by the council to fund the various ground improvements if planning permission is granted. The total cost of the scheme is £32 million.

DaveC on the unofficial forum has calculated the interest repayments will be over £1.5 million a year. And in the last Ashes year the club made a (bumper) profit of... £800,000. Where is the money coming from? In the current environment the amount of money available from takings and central funding can only go down. Sport England are busy with the Olympics.

Planning permission is opposed by residents living nearby who obviously have been living in their houses since before 1886 and so did not move into their homes knowing there was a major sports stadium nearby. Though maybe we best hope they get their way so the club avoids experiencing bankruptcy instead of excellence.

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