Culture, Planning and Transport.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Iorwerth Roberts signing in. As leader of Fellsands City Council I must declare an interest.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

No, the Heritage Society can't do that. They'd love to, but the only thing they can stop us from knocking down is the listed part of the stadium; and everyone's in favour of keeping that in some form anyway. Most of the rest of the stadium is of limited value, architecturally speaking, and will be pulled down no matter what. Given the state of the existing stadium the real question is whether we build a new stadium on the old site or a new one in a part of the city that could really do with some regeneration. It might also stave off disaster at the DRC; we all know it's on the brink of collapse because the foreign developers needed for it to do what it was set up to do... well... where are they now?

The current stadium, by the way, is also a fire hazard.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

I don't know the specifics - though the Chairman will - but as far as the general problem is concerned, my understanding is that an upgrade is essential because of safety concerns; at least one stand at the stadium is a fire hazard and there are also asbestos issues. There's also the fact that the upgrade in the late 1980s and early 1990s was badly done, with inferior materials and poor design. The company responsible was ESB, which, as we all know, collapsed as a result of a fraud investigation a few years later. Its entire ownership and half its Board went to prison as a result, along with four City Councillors, three officers at the St Marks Public Works Department and a former MP. It's that... rather embarrassing... background that makes this issue so sensitive and is why this committee needs to take a firm grip of the situation.

On the matter of sports infrastructure as regeneration, there are numerous examples in Great Britain, some more successful than others.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Just to add to the comments of the Chairman, the Princes' Park district is mostly in the borough of Barthorpe, although a small part is in Castle. I believe that several members have houses in the area...