Council quizzed over Latics plans

The extent to which the council is working behind closed doors with Oldham Athletic over their proposed move to Failsworth will be questioned at a full council meeting tomorrow.

Latics are negotiating to buy the Lancaster Club at the bottom of Broadway.

The League One club also wants to lease Lower Failsworth Memorial Park, next to the Lancaster Club, and near-by allotments, to create a site big enough for a stadium.

Papers sent to the Chronicle show that a report from Elaine McClean, executive director for the economy, places and skills, calls for the council to “actively control and have a positive input into the design of the stadium.”

Once an acceptable planning application goes in, a working group will be set up with Latics, supported by the council’s highways, planning and surveying staff. Lower Failsworth Memorial Park was previously promised to Failsworth Dynamos amateur footballers at £1,500 a year.

But the papers show the rent for the lease will be more than trebled by Oldham Athletic, with one-off payments of £50,000 if the club is promoted to the Championship or Premier League.

The park was created after the First World War as a memorial to Failsworth soldiers who died during the conflict, by public subscription.

But the Charity Commission has told the council the deed does not appear to have created a charity, or a specific charitable trust. And the council is preparing to fight off any application to turn the park into a town green.

Failsworth West Councillor Glenys Butterworth is co-ordinating opposition to the stadium plans from fellow Failsworth councillors and local MP David Heyes. Tomorrow, she will ask the council to take responsibility for a lack of public consultation.

She will also ask the Cabinet member for regeneration, Councillor Mohib Uddin, to clarify his remarks that no part of the park will be lost.