The Foxes Trust is pleased to announce that Leicester City Council has agreed to the Trust’s re-application for the King Power Stadium to be listed as an Asset of Community Value (ACV) under the Localism Act (2011).
Assets of Community Value are designed to apply a ‘pause’ to any plans to sell land which is important to local communities, and to give those communities time to compile a bid to buy it themselves.
The application has to be renewed regularly. The Trust originally set out a number of reasons why the Stadium should be considered an Asset of Community Value, including:
– Protecting the Stadium’s use as the venue for Leicester City Football Club for current and future generations, and
– Ensuring it continues as a site for delivering social benefit and community value, through the continued hosting of Leicester City matches and the associated community activities Leicester City undertakes.
The listing means that, should the owner of the Stadium wish to sell, they will be required to notify the Council and the Foxes Trust, who will then have six weeks to lodge a non-binding expression of interest. This would trigger a further four and half months (making six months in total) for a rival bid to be prepared. The full moratorium period exists to afford community interest groups sufficient time to prepare and raise money to bid for the property.
Importantly, as a result of this process, fans – and the wider community – also have more transparency about the club: it will not be possible for a sale to be made without prior public announcement.
In addition, it gives early access to any provisional new proposed owners of the ground.