Coventry MP Bob Ainsworth has explained exactly who own what pices of land surrounding the Ricoh Arena.
Writing on his website, Mr Ainsworth says: "There has been much talk of Coventry City Football Club’s desire to own the Ricoh and the “adjacent” development land. Some have tried to suggest this is” Brownfield” land and that it is therefore worth very little. Others have given the impression that it is all integral to the Ricoh and therefore rightly should belong to whoever owns the stadium.
Therer are areas owned in freehold by the council, but form part of the lease to ACL – the stadium operator – and indeed are integral to the Ricoh itself. However, this cannot be said to be “Brownfield” as it is part of the expensively provided and very well connected development; the entire road infrastructure is there connecting it to the motorway network and the rail network, should the new station be built.
Car park C is on the opposite side of the main A444. It was an old railway siding that was expensively developed and is equally well connected. While it serves as additional car parking for the Ricoh, it is owned by the council on behalf of the taxpayers of the city and would be of considerable value in its own right.
The development land talked about – which is designated for planning purposes as “Leisure” land – is on the opposite side of the railway line and only connected to the Ricoh via a pedestrian underpass. This 8 acre site – which is effectively part of the Tesco side of the development – is well served by the Tesco dual carriageway exit from the road network.
Again this land is owned by the council on behalf of the taxpayers of Coventry. If designated for retail it would be worth many millions, however, the council felt that the retail park was big enough and wanted to develop hotels etc. It is still with its current designation worth a considerable sum in its own right. Again as the photograph shows this is not “Brownfield” but rather prepared, ready to use development land.
More on this: http://www.bobainsworthmp.co.uk/
Source: Coventry MAD
Source: FOOTYMAD
