Also clarity on how much is needed to pay the WUP please
If it was as little as £250k I would be well pis.ed if our club went under for that sum, when all 4 actors in this could surely club together to knock out £62,500 each !!
Some councils even fund their local club and rent or let the ground cheaply !!
"Empowering local communities through asset ownership is an increasingly relevant option, as is aligning community needs and council priorities with the comprehensive network of asset owning community sports organisations.
Councils have a key role to play in helping communities to take ownership of local assets and creating a local network capable of delivering services, whilst protecting the local sport and leisure landscape."
- Protects jobs that are at risk from facility closures. Provides training and business opportunities.
- Can reverse economic decline of an area and attract investment. Can act as leverage, enabling further investment to be negotiated.
- Instils a renewed sense of pride and confidence in the community. Provides local people with a meaningful stake in the future development of the place in which they live and / or work and builds long-term support from the community.
Supporter ownership of spectator sports clubs and social value
The enhanced social value created from community ownership of spectator sports clubs has been discussed and evidenced to great extent including in Supporters Direct
The Social and Community Value of Football report (2010). Supporter ownership creates greater local control, transparency and confidence to local stakeholders not least to supporters and councils that the club is being run for benefit beyond a small and often unrepresentative group of shareholders.
Councils’ recognition of a club’s local value and support for community ownership is often activated when a club is in financial trouble with key assets, such as if the stadium is at risk. Many councils are taking a more progressive approach to community ownership, supporting the club before it is at risk to create a partnership that helps the club and council to deliver their objectives. A great example is Chesterfield FC where Chesterfield Borough Council and Derbyshire County Council lent money to the club’s charitable trust for it to take majority control of the club.
Cmon Southend Council you can do it FFS get that DD done soon, at a minimum