In the emails released to the public under a Freedom of Information request, an email from January 14th, 2014 suggested that the club had helped the Council by getting rid of the Richardson 'headache' - implying that the Council did not want to do a deal with Richardsons over the Old Market development and wider Edgar Street Grid:
The day before the email was written David Keyte met with Geoff Hughes, suggesting it was Keyte that wrote the message.
In the email to Geoff Hughes, the club told the Council that the two ends would be worth between £500,000 and £750,000 each as a conservative estimate:
However subsequent Council emails show officials to feel the figures were in excess of their estimations of the land value, but they continued lease negotiations regardless. The same email from the club also asked for financial assistance from the Council either in the form of a lump sum or regular monthly handouts:
The request was ultimately rejected.