So frustrating when you look back at the hints (1 Viewer)

[dongonzalos]

The council gave SISU

Coventry City Council leader Ann Lucas releases a statement in response to Sisu's public call for talks on the sale of the Ricoh Arena.

Statement released by Coventry City Council leader Ann Lucas
Statement by Councillor Ann Lucas, Leader of Coventry City Council

I am responding to the article in the Coventry Telegraph of 30 October 2013 headlined “Coventry city owners invite Council to talks over Sky Blues returning to Ricoh Arena”, and a statement issued by Coventry City Football Club.

Let me deal with areas of agreement first of all. Coventry City Football Club is absolutely right that we should try to avoid “tit for tat” press releases. I do not wish to be secretive where there is no need for secrecy. I would rather be open and I recognise that openness and transparency are important to everyone involved in this issue. However, there are issues of commercial sensitivity and on-going legal issues that make it impossible to comment fully on every issue that is raised by every party in this dispute.

That said, and to paraphrase the words of the Coventry City Football Club statement, let me cut through the spin and focus on the specifics and put everyone in the picture.


1. The statement that I made to the Full Meeting of the City Council on Tuesday 22 October was not “rushed out” following the demonstration by fans outside the Council House. I had been considering making a statement to Council about these issues for some two or more weeks beforehand, and had discussed doing so with my closest political colleagues.

I recognise that the demonstration by fans outside the Council House on Tuesday 22 October was important to them, and I and my fellow councillors are extremely mindful of their concerns. But it is ridiculous to suggest that I rushed out a statement because of their presence or their petition. If I responded in that manner, I would be making a statement on every issue of contention at every Full Council meeting.

2. The statement was not drafted by ACL’s London-based PR Consultants. It is a lie to suggest that it was drafted by them. The statement was my words and my words alone. The statement was checked for factual inaccuracy and to ensure that nothing within it was defamatory by council officers. I will have to disagree with Coventry City Football Club as to whether or not it contained more generalisations than specific action points.

3. For those who missed it, I attach a copy of my original statement in full.

4. It is public knowledge I have written to Joy Seppala, inviting her to meet with me. She has not done so. She has given a personal interview to the Coventry Telegraph about this issue but she has been unprepared to meet with me. My offer to meet with her remains open. If she wishes to meet with me then she should contact my office to make arrangements to do so.

I am prepared to meet with her privately if she is prepared to enter into a constructive, meaningful and mature discussion about the Ricoh Arena. I am not prepared to enter into an adversarial or confrontational discussion which would achieve nothing. Time is running out. If Joy Seppala is serious about wanting to discuss a possible deal, then we need to talk soon. This is something else I agree with the football club about. There will be a point, in the very near future, where we will be overtaken by events, not least the outcome of Sisu’s renewed Application to the High Court for Judicial Review which is listed for 28 November.

5. My statement to Full Council on Tuesday 22 October confirms that all options are available for discussion. I am prepared to discuss, subject to contract, and without prejudice to the on-going court case, the issue of stadium ownership with Joy Seppala just as I have been prepared to discuss stadium ownership with other interested third parties in the past.

The difference is they came to meet with me, whereas I have yet to meet with Joy Seppala. If Joy Seppala does not wish to meet with me at the Council House, then I am prepared to meet with her at another mutually agreed neutral venue. But I remind everyone, it takes two to tango!

6. The statement from Coventry City Football Club contains another wholly factual inaccuracy. It states: “We believe that Councillor Lucas’ predecessor as Leader, Councillor John Mutton, met with her very recently to confirm that he had been prepared to discuss stadium ownership with other parties and urged her to negotiate with us.”

I have not met with Councillor Mutton to discuss the issue of stadium ownership with other parties, nor has he urged me to negotiate with Coventry City Football Club, nor Sisu/Otium. I am sure that Councillor Mutton will be prepared to confirm the wholly erroneous nature of this part of the statement issued by Coventry City Football Club.

7. The statement by Coventry City Football Club states “there is never any legal bar on the truth”. Again, I agree with Coventry City Football Club on that point so I ask why their statement claims: “..and we’d still like to know the real reason why Councillor Lucas authorised ACL’s rejection of the CVA which cost “my beloved Sky Blues” another ten points.”

That statement suggests that I authorised ACL’s rejection of the CVA.

That is untrue. The decision to reject the CVA was made by the Board of ACL. Neither I nor any other councillor serves on that board. To claim, as Coventry City Football Club did, that I authorised the refusal of the CVA credits me with an authority and a power that I did not and do not possess.

I am aware that ACL took the position it did on the CVA to persuade the club to come back to the Ricoh Arena as a condition of accepting the CVA and accept a rental offer of £150,000 a year. Unfortunately the club did not want to accept the offer. I suppose it is too much to expect the humility of an apology from Coventry City Football Club for such a misleading statement?

To summarise, I am disappointed but not surprised by the inaccuracies within the statement issued by Coventry City Football Club. I am disappointed but not surprised by the personal nature of the attack upon me by Coventry City Football Club. I can reassure the football club and its fans that it will not stop me doing what I believe to be right for the city, for the Ricoh Arena, and for the football club.

I am disappointed but not surprised that Joy Seppala has not yet met with me. I cannot understand why she is so fearful or reluctant to do so because I had hoped that we might develop a professional working relationship that would be to the benefit of all parties concerned.

So for one last time, I say, quite clearly, that I am prepared to meet with Joy Seppala and to have a discussion with her without prejudice and subject to contract in relation to all and any issues in relation to the Ricoh Arena, the land around it, and Coventry City Football Club.

But let me be clear, the clock is ticking and time is moving on. I will not lead the Council into a state of paralysis around this issue. Difficult times call for difficult decisions. If this matter cannot be resolved by the turn of the year, then I and all of my colleagues on the Labour Group on Coventry City Council will look to put in place a process which ensures the best possible deal for the people of Coventry in relation to the Ricoh Arena.

 

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[dongonzalos]

Tuesday 14 January 2014
Council Leader Ann Lucas has today (Tues) made the statement below to the meeting of the Full Council:

"2014 is a critical year for the city of Coventry as we continue our transformation to become a truly competitive city - not just on a national stage but on an international one, too.

"Since becoming Leader I have spoken a lot about grasping every possible opportunity to talk up our city and our vision for economic growth and prosperity to put Coventry up there - where it rightly belongs. We want to make Coventry great again, and we will make Coventry great again.

"You might think this is a strange place to begin a statement about Coventry City Football Club, ACL and the Ricoh Arena. Actually, it's exactly the right place to begin. Because this is the context we’re working in, and this will be the focus of our efforts this year as we face some of the toughest funding challenges from central government local government has ever seen.

"There is so much vital work for us to do with partners across the city and the sub-region to stimulate the economy and create jobs and opportunities for our people - we cannot be overly distracted by the ongoing dispute with the owners of the Sky Blues. We are beginning to see the results of our absolute determination to make Coventry great again, but there is much more to do and our journey has only just begun.

"So this is where we stand. Let me be absolutely clear and unequivocal about the following.

Yes - as I have said consistently here in this Chamber, as I have said to Ms Seppala face to face and I have said in the media; I want to see the Sky Blues playing back at the Ricoh Arena - its rightful home.

Yes - I acknowledge that the Ricoh Arena, as a key asset of our city, would be enhanced by having the Sky Blues back home.

Yes - I agree that there is a significant adverse impact for a growing, aspirational city not to have a football club playing here.

Yes - I do have confidence in ACL to trade through without the football club, and also to go from strength to strength over the coming months and years.

Yes - I continue to be available on behalf of the Council to discuss with the owners of football club a reuniting of the Sky Blues with the Ricoh Arena.

Yes - in the future we must be committed to consider all options available to not just protect but also maximise the potential of the Ricoh Arena. We must continue to deliver all the objectives which led us to that brave decision in 2003 to build the Arena and regenerate one of the most deprived parts of our city. And let’s just remember what this decision has meant to our city.

"Before the Arena motorists on the M6 used the ugly gasholders on the old Foleshill gasworks as the sign they were passing Coventry. What a great advert for the city!

"Now it’s the stadium – a symbol of our commitment to regeneration and reinvention. I’m proud that I know I’m nearly home from a long motorway trek when I see our Arena on the horizon – I know thousands of Coventry people feel the same.

"And it’s not just the stadium that’s transformed that part of the city, of course. It’s the shopping centre there, including what was, at the time, Europe’s largest Tesco, the library we opened to make it as easy for local people to borrow a book as it was to buy a can of baked beans, and all the other shops and restaurants now well established on the site. Nearly three thousand people now work on the transformed land of what was once a contaminated, ugly gasworks.

"The Ricoh Arena, and the site around it, has always been about much, much more than a football stadium. It’s about regeneration, jobs creation, a symbol of pride for people in a part of the city that’s had more than its fair share of hard times.

"This is - and always has been - our focus.

"And because I want this city to be punching not just at its weight but way above, and I’m in a hurry to make this happen, I am no long prepared for us to be distracted unnecessarily on this issue - as important as it will remain.

"We will prepare rigorously to defend our position against the owners of Coventry City Football Club in the ongoing Judicial Review proceedings. We will provide support to ACL as it gears up to deliver its business plan over the next year and beyond. We will leave the door ajar to the owners of the football club and, indeed, any other interested parties who want to discuss sensibly the future development of the Ricoh Arena.

"But as I made clear before Christmas - we will now move on.

"We simply must - for the sake of the taxpayers of Coventry - meet the ongoing financial challenges as best we can and grab with both hands every single opportunity to make our city prosperous.

"I would expect all my Labour group colleagues to focus on these two issues, and I would hope to have cross party support on this, too. I need my officers, particularly at senior level, to focus on guiding us through the toughest financial times we have arguably ever faced.

"The position of the Council that I have outlined today is clear.

"The position of ACL – to grow its business but prepared, as I understand it, for the football club to come back immediately and cover costs only is clear.

"The position of Ms Seppala on behalf of the Club that they will only come back to the Ricoh Arena as complete and unfettered owners and in the meantime they will accelerate plans to build a new home outside Coventry - is equally clear. Repeating these respective positions does not strengthen the case, nor does it provide a solution.

"Now this Council must and will move on. We do not have time to waste and must not have unnecessary distractions from the priorities ahead of us all.

"I will continue to hope for a solution to this sorry saga - but I will not allow it to dominate and distract any longer.

"Enough is enough - we move on and lead our city to a strong, prosperous future - preferably with the Sky Blues at the Ricoh Arena playing an integral part in our success - but if necessary without them."



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[NorthernWisdom]

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Wise words.

 

[dongonzalos]

The response to the above after the defeat on the JR

"ACL will now remain burdened with debt for the next 43 years, removing any prospect of a long-term return to the stadium by the club.

"With this level of debt, there is no realistic prospect of any sports franchise or ACL being able to generate sufficient revenue to be commercially viable.

"We will apply for leave to appeal this decision. Now, more than ever, the new stadium is the only viable commercial option.

"The owner's primary objective remains building a long-term sound financial platform for the future growth of the club."

 

[dongonzalos]

"We did not want this court action, and believe no-one benefits from costly litigation that could end up costing Coventry taxpayers hundreds of thousands of pounds in legal costs alone.

"Regardless of all legal action I am happy to talk to (Sisu boss) Joy Seppala again to see if compromise can be reached. I want Coventry City Football Club to play at the Ricoh Arena, but not on terms that would not justify public scrutiny."

 

[SkyBlueZack]

"Regardless of all legal action I am happy to talk to (Sisu boss) Joy Seppala again to see if compromise can be reached. I want Coventry City Football Club to play at the Ricoh Arena, but not on terms that would not justify public scrutiny."[/QUOTE]

Is that why the deal has been done in secret? When exactly will the public scrutiny take place?

 

[Moff]

I find it more frustrating that we sold Highfield Road in the first place, without having the funding in place to build our own new stadium.
This would also have meant you didnt have to write such a long piece on hints that SISU apparently missed.