By Alan Irving

Last updated at 11:45, Thursday, 18 October 2012

A NEW Pow Beck scheme to develop rugby, soccer and other sports facilities at Whitehaven could still go ahead – despite the £2.6million cutbacks which threaten leisure facilities in Copeland.

But although £4.5 million of nuclear money (through Britain’s Energy Coast) is still earmarked for a community sports stadium a new alternative scheme is likely to cost around £2 million.

The stadium project – independent of council services – has remained a Britain’s Energy Coast regeneration priority. And while no council investment was to be made, some £1.2million of taxpayers money has been wasted in preliminary planning work.

Copeland Council virtually washed its hands of the project following the collapse of the Whitehaven Miners’ land access deal leaving Whitehaven rugby league and Whitehaven football clubs as the lead stadium partners.

The Nuclear Management Partners’ funding of £4.4 million is ‘ring fenced’ for the stadium subject to Britain’s Energy Coast approval.

But BEC revealed yesterday that it was waiting to receive an alternative project for enhancing the Pow Beck rugby league and football facilities.

No details are available yet but The Whitehaven News believes it will be on a much reduced scale and costing about £3 million less than the £5.5 million estimated for a brand new community sports stadium before the collapse of the Whitehaven Miners’ land deal.

Another £1 million was being sought from the Copeland Community Fund.

The land access setback cast serious doubts over any stadium development but chairman of Britain’s Energy Coast Brian Wilson said: “We remain supportive of an alternative scheme and I understand an initial project proposal from the new lead organisations Whitehaven RLFC and Whitehaven AFC will be submitted to us soon.

“Once it is received an application will be developed so that we are able to consider it through our usual process and of course in the context.

“BEC has remained consistent in our support of the Pow Beck development. While we have never been the lead agency in the project we gave Copeland Borough Council a grant of £553,000 towards development costs of the original scheme which did not progress due to access difficulties.”

As a result of the BEC grant, Copeland Council was able to make the following payments: White Young Green, engineers to the partners £493,274; Faithful and Gould, architects to the partners £5,040; Baines Wilson, legal advisers to the partners £65,074; Eversheds, legal advisers to the council £8,503; HFT Gough, legal advisers to the Miners £14,180; CB Richard Ellis, surveyors to the Miners £9,292; JBA Consulting, engineers to the Miners £5,000; Knight, Kavanagh & Page, financial forecast advisers to the partners £5,000; Dixon Webb £552; Hurd Rolland £8,750.

On top of these sums an estimated of £142,230 was paid to Bob Collins Management Ltd for his work on Pow Beck alone although over a number of years Mr Collins has been paid for work on other council projects as a consultant.

An additional £300,000 to pay for a Pow Beck feasibility study came out of a previous grant of £500,000 from British Nuclear Fuels towards the overall project. Other development costs have been incurred adding up to the loss of £1.2 million of taxpayers’ money.

First published at 11:10, Thursday, 18 October 2012
Published by http://www.whitehavennews.co.uk