Stadium

Nightporter on the vsc has found this council report.

Very interesting reading.

After a quick glance through it appears they may go down the line of passing control to Rovers without selling it to us

http://www.doncaster.gov.uk/db/chamber/default.asp?Nav=Report&ReportID=14161

Very interesting reading...looks like April is the month something will finally be decided...

from the BBC..


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-17444203

So April/May look as if they will be interesting months, not that anybody will tell us anything

Dagenham Rover wrote:So April/May look as if they will be interesting months, not that anybody will tell us anything

I would imagine they will want it sorting out one way or another...a new financial year is almost upon us..

PLANS are being drawn up to hand control of a taxpayer-funded £32m stadium to a professional football club to try to halt spiralling losses hitting the public purse.


Doncaster Council is in talks with Doncaster Rovers over transferring responsibility for Keepmoat Stadium to the football club because the council-owned company currently running the facility is on the brink of financial collapse.

Estimated losses for the Stadium Management Company (SMC) have now reached £2.5m, with the SMC now no longer considered financially viable.

As a result, the council is formulating plans to pass control of the Keepmoat Stadium to the football club under a long-term agreement. Talks are continuing on a lease of between 50 and 100 years which would effectively mean a flagship public project being taken over by a private company – albeit with ultimate ownership retained by the council.

A report to the council’s scrutiny committee makes clear protections for community use and the continued use of facilities by the town’s rugby league team, athletics’ club and women’s football team would be in any long-term agreement.

The report does not reveal how much Doncaster Rovers would pay under the terms of any lease and the issue remains politically sensitive given the scale of public-funding involved.

The club currently pays £281,000 a year to the SMC to use the stadium under a 25-year agreement – an amount the report describes as “relatively low”.

But Rovers maybe unwilling to pay anything more – and possibly may want to insist on less – as the club would be taking on a loss-making scenario.

The club’s operating director Gavin Baldwin, said: “We are keen to further explore the opportunity to take over the running of the Keepmoat Stadium.

“We hope to develop initial conversations into negotiations which would result in a deal that would benefit Doncaster residents and tax payers.”

The report also lays bare the financial predicament facing the SMC and how its failed business model has brought it to the brink of financial collapse. As well as funding the building of the stadium, officially opened in 2007, the council has also provided almost £1.5m in overdraft guarantees, grants and loans to keep the SMC going.

The report also refers to further money the council will have to find shortly to pay for inspections, surveys and works required to ensure the stadium retains its operating licence.

Although no figure is provided, it is understood this will cost hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Outlining the financial concerns, the report says: “The Council’s continued funding for the SMC is likely to run out very early in June 2012 and the SMC’s accounts up to March 2011 are likely to be signed off on the basis that it is not a “going concern”. This does not mean that it is bankrupt or needs to be in administration or liquidation, but does mean that it does not have funding secured to allow it to operate for another 12 months.”

It was originally envisaged the SMC would make an annual surplus of about £300,000 with income from clubs using the stadium supplemented by cash from other facilities on the site.

Instead, staff wages have been up to £600,000 a year more than planned and income from facilities has been hundreds of thousands below what was expected.

The report says detailed discussions over the transfer are due next month.

Director of finance and corporate services Simon Wiles said “current arrangements are not sustainable,” and added: “We have identified a number of options for the future of the stadium and will be speaking to the main users over the coming month. No decision has been made.”

from yorkshire post

"and income from facilities has been hundreds of thousands below what was expected."

underused, not interested in the customer, poor concourse catering, failure to open the Lakeside Suite during car boots not leaving a food outlet open and turning the tv's off immediatley after a game spring to mind without even putting any thought into it

Dagenham Rover wrote:"and income from facilities has been hundreds of thousands below what was expected."

underused, not interested in the customer, poor concourse catering, failure to open the Lakeside Suite during car boots not leaving a food outlet open and turning the tv's off immediatley after a game spring to mind without even putting any thought into it

Daggers i have said for a long time why not do sunday meals upstairs...why not open the lakeside bar when the carboot is on..they have so much space sat doing nothing in the eastside why not open a family bar with pool tables games machines etc...i have gone in the keepmoat bar after a game and they have wanted you out..the SMC have done all they can to make people feel unwelcome so have little sympathy for them...i think i could make a better job of running it and have no expireience...

The one that really gets up my nose is the after game "get them out as quickly as possible"

I seem to remember seeing every burger van outside doing a fair old trade after each and every game, mind you most of the vans are better quality than the stuff served up inside the stadium so perhaps.......

Dagenham Rover wrote:The one that really gets up my nose is the after game "get them out as quickly as possible"

I seem to remember seeing every burger van outside doing a fair old trade after each and every game, mind you most of the vans are better quality than the stuff served up inside the stadium so perhaps.......

Thats another thing the food is shite...i remember when they were building the ground we were told that the keepmoat bar was going to be open all the time...to be honest in its current form i wouldn't want to go in there for a casual drink it is bland...i remember Vix enquiring about booking it for a party..can't remember the cost but god it was expensive....the 60's nights and other events they hold upstairs are so poorly advertised theres no wonder they can't make money...the potential is there just need someone in charge who knows what they are doing...look at the B2Net in chesterfield they are raking it in..if they can do it whay can't we ...the Keepmoat with its lakeside location should be awash with money..

yorkie64red wrote:



Daggers i have said for a long time why not do sunday meals upstairs...why not open the lakeside bar when the carboot is on..they have so much space sat doing nothing in the eastside why not open a family bar with pool tables games machines etc...i have gone in the keepmoat bar after a game and they have wanted you out..the SMC have done all they can to make people feel unwelcome so have little sympathy for them...i think i could make a better job of running it and have no expireience...

Hmmm it should never have gone this far, the suggestions above would have raised 10/100's of thousands on their own. The mismanagement of this project from day 1 has been quite ridiculous.
April may well see us having a 'useable' stadium of our own in time for our confirmed relegation, however this issue should have been resolved years ago it was always destined to end in tears.

Not bought the Free Press yet but app it says in there if a deal can not be reached it will be knocked down

pkt_drfc wrote:Not bought the Free Press yet but app it says in there if a deal can not be reached it will be knocked down

Scaremongering

a couple of paragraphs taken from the report

15. The Rovers have a 25 year agreement to use the Stadium for about 25 days per year plus cup matches. We are 6 years into the agreement. There is an agreement whereby the Council has guaranteed that should the SMC no longer exist then the Council will arrange and pay for the provision of services and facilities similar to those provided by the SMC. This agreement, together with the relatively low payments due from Rovers, has the effect of limiting the Council’s options with regard to future use of the Stadium.


c. Independent valuation of the Stadium has taken place, but the advice is that any sale price sought by the Council should be based on a capitalised value of potential revenue surpluses. This would give the Stadium a relatively low value. Possibly between £5m and £8m, and these figures would also be affected by the agreements and guarantees already in existence



d. Sale of the Stadium for redevelopment cannot really be considered for another 19 years given the guarantees/agreements with the Rovers. In any case to deprive some to the town’s major clubs and their fans of high quality facilities so soon after building them would be an expensive and unusual change of priorities.



e. Sale of parts of the Stadium site would potentially be possible and these could generate some capital receipts for the Council. These could well be enough to more than off set the revenue losses to date and provide additional capital resources for other council priorities.

23. The Council could pass the management of the Stadium to one of the users. In reality this would have to be the Rovers as only they have the size and infrastructure to take this on. There are a number of potential advantages for both parties in such an arrangement.



24. From the Council’s point of view it could:



- Close the SMC and no longer have responsibility for the management of the Stadium

- There would be far less staff time dedicated to the Stadium.

- The Council would be insulated from the ongoing revenue losses.

- The Council would as part of any such deal agree with the Rovers to end its existing lease/income guarantees.

- The remaining SMC staff would be TUPE transferred.



25. From the Rovers point of view they could:



- Seek to have a longer term agreement (50 – 100 years) giving them greater security of tenure.

- Be granted a longer term agreement on their training ground at Cantley.

- Have the opportunity to reduce costs and overheads by combining their management and administration with that of the SMC.

- Have the opportunity of raising additional income from the stadium.



26. The Rovers could also have full use of the facilities at all times that they hadn’t contracted for other users such as the Rugby League, the Belles etc. and other events and not be restricted to their current limited days. The Council would seek a longer term lease that was agreed to protect the interests of the other Stadium users and to enhance the community benefits and uses of the Stadium. To this end the Rovers and the Athletics Club have produced lists of community activities that they would enshrine in new lease arrangements.



27. The Athletics club could be granted a separate lease for the track and stand together with rights to changing facilities and floodlights and power. This would be at nil cost to them, with them taking repairing responsibilities and then using this as a basis for attracting external funding.

pkt_drfc wrote:Not bought the Free Press yet but app it says in there if a deal can not be reached it will be knocked down

Yorkshire Post yesterday seemed to imply Rovers would take over

http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/around-yorkshire/local-stories/club-set-to-take-over-stadium-as-council-firm-fails-1-4365825#

Well the Mayor has been on Dee Daa...totally rubbished any prospect of the stadium been bulldozed...said that people in the council themselves seem to like to pull the town down at any opportunity...anyway he says that Rovers will be handed over control of the ground and that he expcts them to be able to do what the SMC couldn't and that is make a profit from it, he said that the council should never have built it in the first place as that is not the job of council to provide such things but didn't blame any of the tenants for that...he says Rovers were quite willing to pay for their own ground to be built six years ago but the council at the time prevented them from doing so..he said Rovers are an assett to the town and would never do anything to harm the club and only wishes them well..as usual from the mayor despite what some people think of him it was straight to the point with no bullshit like you would get from most politicians...he did say that there would be no more mony from the council so that is really the SMC dead in the water..he said they were responsible for the failures at the club trying to build empires wih other peoples money...so in the near future we should be able to look forward to Rovers running the ground and hopefully people will use it and help Rovers make some money from it...

This report is just the public face of what we know has been happening in the background for some time, accelerated with Gavin Baldwin taking over. As I've mentioned a few times we kept a close eye on it all to make sure that no third party company was going to inherit the stadium and separate the club from its primary asset.

yorkie64red wrote:Well the Mayor has been on Dee Daa...totally rubbished any prospect of the stadium been bulldozed...said that people in the council themselves seem to like to pull the town down at any opportunity...anyway he says that Rovers will be handed over control of the ground and that he expcts them to be able to do what the SMC couldn't and that is make a profit from it, he said that the council should never have built it in the first place as that is not the job of council to provide such things but didn't blame any of the tenants for that...he says Rovers were quite willing to pay for their own ground to be built six years ago but the council at the time prevented them from doing so..he said Rovers are an assett to the town and would never do anything to harm the club and only wishes them well..as usual from the mayor despite what some people think of him it was straight to the point with no bullshit like you would get from most politicians...he did say that there would be no more mony from the council so that is really the SMC dead in the water..he said they were responsible for the failures at the club trying to build empires wih other peoples money...so in the near future we should be able to look forward to Rovers running the ground and hopefully people will use it and help Rovers make some money from it...

Spot on, we had the plans for a stadium and a location (motorway side of the bottom of carr hill) all drawn up and the council refused us permission to build it as they had decided to buld a community stadium for the town instead. I bet they wish they hadn't know