Nottingham City Council has now finalised the offer it has put on the table for Nottingham Forest
A deal securing Nottingham Forest’s future at the City Ground can be signed in a “timely manner”, with the ball now fully in the Reds’ court, after the city council finalised their offer to the club. Senior councillors have voted to approve an agreement in principle that will see Nottingham City Council, the owner of the City Ground land, selling the freehold to Nottingham Forest.
Councillor Neghat Khan, the city council leader, said at the executive board meeting on Tuesday (July 16): “I’m proud that we’ve brought this report here today… England’s progress in the Euros shows that football can unite us all… This has been dragging on for some time and as the new leader I promised to take decisive action.”
Councilor Ethan Radford, the council’s deputy leader, added: “We are pleased that we have agreed a common objective with the club… Officers will work with Nottingham Forest to undertake this transaction in a timely manner.”
Upon succeeding David Mellen as Nottingham City Council’s leader, Councillor Khan said that she wanted a face-to-face meeting with Forest’s chairman Tom Cartledge and club owner Evangelos Marinakis. That meeting is yet to take place, with Mr Marinakis said to have spent a lot of time in New York recently, though it is understood the club want to hold the face-to-face meeting to sign the final deal.
The agreement at the executive board meeting does not mean that the deal is completely done, however, but essentially means Forest’s future at the City Ground is now in their hands. Tuesday’s meeting means that Nottingham City Council have confirmed their side of the deal and subject to legal and due diligence checks, it is now up to council officers and Forest representatives to agree the final terms.
Councillor Khan first announced in a meeting on Monday (July 8) that terms had been agreed in principle for Nottingham Forest to purchase the land on which the City Ground sits. That statement followed months of public dispute between Forest and the council over the latter’s attempts to increase the club’s rent from £250,000 a year to “north of a million.”
The option for the club to buy the ground’s freehold instead was on the table from the start of negotiations and Nottingham City Council suggested that this is the option Forest had provisionally agreed to. Yet in a statement issued after the July 8 meeting, Forest said it continues to “work on the terms for a conditional deal for the purchase of the freehold.” Last week, the club said: “After today’s comments from the leader of the city council, the club wishes to clarify the situation for supporters and stakeholders regarding the freehold for the City Ground.
“For absolute clarity, we continue to work on the terms for a conditional deal for the purchase of the freehold. Any decision to purchase the freehold will be entirely conditional on Nottingham Forest first being granted the relevant permissions that will allow us to realise our hugely ambitious plans for a significantly larger stadium capacity, world-class hospitality spaces and associated substantial real estate development in the vicinity of the ground.
“Our discussions remain confidential and the Club will update fans when meaningful progress has been achieved.” Planning permission is not a matter for Nottingham City Council, but instead Rushcliffe Borough Council.
That authority’s leader, Councillor Neil Clarke, said in a recent statement: “We granted Nottingham Forest planning permission for their latest planning application to extend ground capacity and associated development in 2022 and should any further plans come forward these will go through our usual independent planning process.” A central part of the long-term vision for the City Ground is to increase the capacity of the Peter Taylor stand by knocking it down and rebuilding it.
Plans also include improving and, in the case of the Bridgford Stand, extending the other three sides of the ground. Once the major stadium work had been completed, Forest plan to build a 169-unit residential block near the existing Bridgford House apartments.
The latter element is what reportedly caused the council to try and increase Forest’s rent. Nottingham City Council said that the terms agreed in principle would allow Forest’s development plans to go ahead.
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