Herefordshire Council have added further items to their Q&A on Hereford United:
Could the council have done more when re-negotiating the leases?
The new leases have allowed the council to strengthen the arrangements with HUFC.
There are some additional measures which could have been taken to further strengthen the council’s control over Edgar Street. For example, we could have tried to negotiate a clause which stated that both the HUFC leases and the development agreement would be terminated in the event of the club changing ownership. However, there’s no guarantee the previous owner would have agreed to a clause of this nature, particularly given the high likelihood that a change in ownership would be to bring additional investment into the club.
It is worth noting the following points regarding the new leases:
1) The ground and facilities are in need of significant improvement
2) The council was not in a position to financially support the club
3) The development agreement was established to allow the club’s owner to bring investment into the ground and facilities (not to the club) to assist the clubs financial sustainability
4) The council was advised by respected independent legal group Pinsent Masons throughout the entire process. The council has ensured a number of significant controls remain at its disposal within the development agreement and will be exercising these controls to ensure the re-investment of at least 85% of any development profits back into the ground.
Is the council considering the option to sell its freehold ownership on the Edgar Street ground?
No, the council is only willing to consider leasehold arrangements on the Edgar Street ground. We have not held any discussions on freehold or alternative leasehold arrangements with the current owners of the club.
The only occasion freehold ownership has been raised was by an interested investor who met with the council, at the request of the former owner, prior to the club being sold. They were advised that we would not consider selling the freehold of the ground.