Maidenhead United FC's lease deal with council labelled as "shady"

The council has been working on a deal with the MUFC for about four years to sell them nine acres of land at Braywick Park for the club to build a new stadium with a multi-purpose pitch, clubhouse, and a smaller football pitch.

Following a cabinet decision in November 2020 to dispose of that land, an agreement was reached last year for MUFC to purchase a 999 lease for £460,000 following an independent valuation. However, this agreement is conditioned on the football club gaining planning consent to build the stadium, which an application is yet to be submitted.

MUFC has said it needs to move out of its current home in York Road, which has been in use since 1871 and is the oldest continuously used football ground in the world, in order to achieve its “ambitions” for the club, which is dangerously close to relegation.

An artist's impression of what the proposed stadium in Braywick Park could look like (Image: MUFC)

An open space notice was publicised for two weeks from April 28, 2022, in respect of the disposal, which received 22 objections but has not been made public.

Concerns have been raised that the proposed stadium will result in the loss of further open space land and publicly accessible facilities, such as half of the rugby club’s pitches, as well as the lack of meaningful consultation with the public and other sports groups.

They also deemed the move ‘unnecessary’ as the club was granted planning permission to expand its current grounds to fit an additional 528 seats and stands in order to hold their status within the league they are currently at.

This also concerned councillors where councillors Jon Davey (Ind: Clewer & Dedworth West), Geoff Hill (tBFI: Oldfield), and Helen Taylor (tBFI: Oldfield) called in the decision that gave a senior council officer the authority to proceed with the lease sale, which was delegated by cabinet in 2019.

READ MORE: Maidenhead United FC will soon submit new stadium plans

Speaking at Thursday’s place overview and scrutiny meeting, Cllr Gurch Singh (Lib Dem: St Mary’s) said there are “serious procedural failings” by the council that should decide on this in an “open and transparent public meeting”.

He said: “The way that this has been decided is clearly very, very flaky and looks shady.”

Maidenhead resident Andrew Hill, who was a Borough First Independent candidate in 2019, said the council was taking a “dispose first and ask questions later” approach, which he deemed as “unlawful consultation”.

He added: “I am appalled that RBWM risked repeating the same mistakes in 2019 by making massive non-time critical land disposals behind closed doors just weeks from another election.”

Ian Brazier-Dubber, the head of the RBWM Property Company, said they issued the open space notice to notify the public of the potential disposal of the land as required by legislation so they can obtain views from the public and deal with objections received.

The current football grounds in York Road site (Image: Google Maps)

He also said this lease sale is only on the basis of MUFC receive planning consent from the council to start construction of the proposed stadium.

Meanwhile, the council’s executive director for place, Andrew Durrant, said consulting stakeholders and other sporting bodies have been undertaken and are still ongoing, adding this will be fleshed out once a planning application is submitted.

The land at the Braywick site was valued in November 2020 by an independent valuator for a sports facility, who concluded it is worth £460,000. If it was valued for housing, the valuation would be different.

Cllr Joshua Reynolds (Lib Dem: Furze Platt) said: “You can’t get much change out of £460,000 for a two-bedroom flat here,” adding that it should be revalued as “lots change” in two years’ time, especially in valuations.

Cllr Hill said the £460,000 is a “very low sum,” fearing MUFC could sell the lease for “millions and millions” of pounds if their plans don’t come to light. – with Cllr Maureen Hunt (Con: Hurley & Walthams) adding that it leaves the council “totally open to zilch” when land prices rise in the coming years.

Members wanted the land to be re-valuated, but Mr Brazier-Dubber warned this could cost the council up to £12,500.

READ MORE: Maidenhead United football stadium will 'eat up' Braywick Park

Cllr Reynolds attempted to refer the decision to full council as he believed it conflicted with policies set out in the borough local plan, but the council’s legal officer Elaine Browne said she “didn’t see any detailed evidence” that this decision was made outside policy framework and Cllr Reynold’s point relates to planning.

Instead, she advised that it should be referred back to the decision-maker, Andrew Durrant, to be looked at again.

After heeding legal advice, Cllr Julian Sharpe (Con: Ascot & Sunnginghill) said this should be referred back to the decision-maker, saying this is the panel’s “only option” aside from doing nothing.

Councillors unanimously decided to refer the decision back to Mr Durrant for the land at Braywick Park to be revalued again and have meaningful public consultation.