Star date: 20th April 2021

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR COUNCIL CANDIDATES: NO 2 AJ BELL STADIUM

As the local elections on 6th May draw nearer, the Salford Star is not going to grill candidates. There are so many candidates for the sixty seats up for grabs that we wouldn't be able to do them all justice.

So, this year we're asking the electorate to Do It Yourselves and we have compiled a handy series of questions to ask candidates to help voters on their way. The second set of questions in the series are about the AJ Bell Stadium.

Full details here...

QUESTIONS TO ASK COUNCIL CANDIDATES ON AJ BELL STADIUM...

The most obvious question to candidates standing in the local council and Mayoral elections in Salford is 'What the hell is going on?'

Since the inception of City of Salford Community Stadium Ltd, or CoSCos, there have been massive losses, massive loans and almost no transparency surrounding what is now called the AJ Bell Stadium...other than the current Salford City Mayor, Paul Dennett, declaring to a full meeting of Salford Council in January last year that it was "actually a great success" and "a great news story"...

The forecast debt for CosCos, jointly owned by Salford City Council and Peel Holdings, for March 2020 was £24.606million, plus £7.23million owed to Peel, making a grand total of £31.84million outstanding debt.

No-one has any idea of what that debt is now because the accounts for the company are now well overdue, with suspicions that they are being kept away from voters until after the elections.

Over the years, ruling politicians in Salford have claimed that the Stadium actually makes money for the city, via interest from the huge loans the Council provides, er, to its own joint company. However, none of this money gets anywhere near frontline services for the public – it merely goes into what the Council calls "an earmarked reserve to offset risks to its loan principal investment...Loan interest received each year is used to increase the level of reserve..."

In the meantime, there's a potential bid from Sale Sharks to buy the Stadium, with the Council admitting that "CosCos has been approached in respect of the potential sale of the stadium", with the further possibility of de-homing Salford Red Devils.

Now, no-one knows what's going on – how are Salford City FC involved? What will happen to Salford Red Devils? Will Sale Sharks confirm a bid? Will the Council be putting in any more loans to keep its Stadium company afloat? And what is the true financial situation?

So, questions to ask council candidates and Mayor candidates about the AJ Bell Stadium...

Do you think that a £31million debt is a 'good news story' for the Stadium? If so could you please justify this?

What do you think should happen with the Stadium and how would you make this work?

Would you guarantee a satisfactory home for Salford Red Devils?

Should councils be involved in building stadiums and office blocks, rather than making sure the bins are emptied on time?

Would you gamble with hundreds of millions of pounds of public money when  the Council is supposed to be cash-strapped?

The Salford Star will be publishing more questions to ask candidates as the 6th May election draws near.

See Previous Questions For Candidates...

No 1: On Buile Hill Mansion – click here

No 3: On Green Belt Destruction - click here

No 4: On The Crescent Police HQ Scandal - click here

For a full background on the Council Election – click here

The Salford City Mayor Election – click here

And the Greater Manchester Mayor Election – click here