Ayr Advertiser | Sport | New stadium in 'jeopardy'

Saturday, 11th October, 2008

Published: Tuesday, 24th June, 2008 10:00

New stadium in 'jeopardy'

By Stewart McConnell

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DISILLUSIONED Ayr United chairman Lachlan Cameron this week hit out at South Ayrshire Council bosses for putting in jeopardy their hopes of moving to a new £15m stadium in time for the start of the 2009-10 season - as figures showed the Somerset Park club had gone into the red last year.

The cost of the project has also rocketed by 13 per cent to £17m and if work is not started by next month the move in time for the start of next season will be in jeopardy.

However at a meeting with council chiefs last week Cameron, who took over last season from father Hugh, was given some reassurance that the new homes would be approved as part of the council’s social housing policy by the end of this week and they could be passed over for signing.

The highly ambitious new facility was unveiled in a blaze of publicity in November 2006 but was only given planning consent in January and still has to go through the full council with no indication as to when it will be nodded through.

Cameron told Sportscene on Monday: “We met with council representatives last Friday and we are hoping that the social housing documents will be out by the end of this coming week and then we can get the houses signed over for building.

“We are waiting on the council to approve the stadium and as soon as that happens we receive a large sum of funds but we keep on being told it’s not a priority.

“There are other applications up the food chain and they don’t have enough people on.

“If we don’t break ground in July we will not make it for 2009-10.

“We put in the application as long ago as November of 2006 and there is no timetable for approval of the project and we are in jeopardy of not making it for 2009-10.

“The cost of steel keeps rising and the estimated costs of the new stadium have risen by £2m.”

United have agreed to sell five-acre Somerset Park to Barratt, subject to planning permission to build a stadium on a 14-acre site at Heathfield.

While not confirming what Barratt would pay for Somerset Park he confirmed the receipts would allow the Honest Men to pay off outstanding loans and build a stadium which would be in line with the Scottish Football League’s criteria.

Abbreviated accounts show United made a retained loss of £102,407 in the year to June 2007 compared with a retained profit of £41,380 in 2006.

SAC this week responded to the club and assured them they were very much behind them.

Hugh Hunter, council leader, said: “The Council is fully supportive of Ayr United.

“We have given consent for the stadium and the enabling development, however, negotiations are still taking place regarding the affordable housing provision which has delayed the signing of the legal agreement.

“The Council has a responsibility to ensure that socially affordable housing is provided as part of the overall project.

“The latest meeting between representatives of Ayr United and Council Planning Officers was very positive and good progress is being made.”