Bath Chronicle – 27 August 2005
Consortium backs bid to redevelop ground
Businessman shows his support but warns of political and legal restrictions
By Ben Murch
Bath Rugby’s plans to build a 15,000-capacity stadium at the Rec have been backed by the man who is behind an ambitious scheme for the long-term development of the land.
Yesterday, the club’s general manager Bob Calleja revealed that plans to replace the west stand and clubhouse, and create a horse-shoe shaped seating area, were being drawn up.
He said the club would not wait for legal wrangles about the development of the site to be settled because premier Rugby, English club rugby’s governing body, has said the top 12 clubs must have seating-capacity for 12,500 people in two year’s time.
Also, they must seat 15,000 by the 2010/2011 season.
The plans have been backed by Andrew Mercer, who is leading the Bath Sport consortium of businesses and developers.
This wants to create a new rugby ground and world-class community sports facilities on the site of the Rec, Bath Cricket Club and Bath Sports and Leisure Centre.
But he warned that the political and legal regulations governing the Rec, managed by an independent Charity Commission-regulated trust, meant it could be easier to win approval for his more ambitious plans than for Bath Rugby’s more modest proposals.
A covenant on the land says it must be kept open and free for games, sports and fetes and that undue precedence should not be given to one particular sport.
The implications of its exact terms are disputed.
Mr. mercer, whose complex is dubbed the Bath Royal Forum, said: “Until the Bath Sport strategy is seen to have a chance to be successful, the rugby club has got to pursue its own strategy. I think it’s quite a natural thing for them to do. Having said that, clearly the Charity Commission is expecting a community facility within the boundary of the Rec so, for it to be successful, there are other things they need to do.”
He added: “I think that politically and legally, actually building a horseshoe on the existing site is actually more complicated than the solution of creating the Bath Royal Forum. But I absolutely support the rugby club in what they are doing to make themselves more viable.”
Cllr. Jonathon Gay (Ind, Radstock), who is one of the three independent trustees of the Rec, said he believed it would be impossible for the trust to sanction any development of the site until it had completed a planned review into its future. That project has not yet been started and is not expected to be finished for at least six months – and possibly a year.
Under Mr. Mercer’s proposals, Bath Sports and Leisure centre would be demolished, but at the moment the plan is speculative and neither Bath and North east Somerset Council nor Bath Rugby have given it official backing.
Tom McBain, the council’s head of property and legal services, said the council intended to buy the freehold of Bath Sports and Leisure Centre but it had no plans to demolish it.
Mr. Calleja stressed that, although the club was interested in any plans other people may put forward for the Rec, it’s proposals were limited to creating a horseshoe-shaped stand by replacing the west stand and the clubhouse.
Worthy Gilson, chairman of the Friends of Bath Recreation Ground, said he did not wish to comment.
A public meeting on the Bath Sport proposals will be taking place on Friday, September 30.
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