Project management capacity at Warwick District Council has been blamed for the latest delays to Leamington Football Club’s new stadium.

Cllr Chris King, one of the two elected officials overseeing the project, cited the issue in response to frustration from former leader Cllr Andrew Day that Sydney Opera House was built “faster than what we are proposing to deliver on this project”.

An ambition of the council’s since 2014, a new purpose-built home for the Brakes was included in the 2017 local plan refresh with the district acquiring land near Fusiliers Way in 2018. 

Plans got put on hold in 2022 when a procurement exercise concluded that the project “was not capable of being progressed within budget”.

Rescoping has taken place since with the district’s cabinet – the coalition of Green and Labour councillors in charge of major service areas – last week voting to accept the club’s social and business case and to fund work to get to the detailed design phase with a view to opening in 2029 and 2031.

The timelines – and the council’s priorities – have come under scrutiny on the back of council professionals targeting a July 2028 opening date in a presentation made to Leamington supporters last year.

Get a move on… 

Addressing the cabinet ahead of the decision to move forward, Cllr Day was “delighted” to see progress but expressed “grave concerns” over the timescale.

“They managed to build the Sydney Opera House faster than what we are proposing to deliver on this project and that was considered a very big and long project in Australia,” he said. 

“We are talking about a further six years when we own the land and we’re about to go in for planning consent. It is not a complicated project in building and construction terms as I understand it, the design is not winged sails on Sydney Harbour. 

“If there are opportunities for us to move more quickly, I would hope to see further reports to enable that to happen.” 

He also made the case for a “soft” spending cap in order to ensure that money worries don’t scupper the long-awaited plans. 

Cllr King, the district’s portfolio holder for place, replied: “We feel very strongly at the moment that having a handle on our finances, in the context of other projects that we are all aware of, is more important than it ever has been.

“We made that very clear to the Brakes. We are aware, however, that we need a plan B. If things go in the wrong direction in terms of finances – and we are all vulnerable to things beyond our control – we have to cover that over.

“One of the reasons this has taken so long isn’t just the question of finance. Yes, we own the land but the resource needed from within the authority for this kind of project is significant.

“We have a number of ongoing projects and it isn’t possible to just pull out the right people at a time that suits, we have to be very mindful of that because that can be a major stumbling block for any project.” 

Leader Cllr Ian Davison noted the 2022 halt while the Tories were in charge and said the council had “worked very hard to break dependencies and make it a much simpler scheme”. 

“We are hopeful this is a greater success than what happened last time,” he said.

Cllr Jonathan Chilvers stressed the importance of the right project management team and capacity, adding: “It might take a bit of time at the beginning but if we get it in place then that will help the rest of the process.” 

‘Project overload’

The debate continued at an extraordinary meeting for all councillors on Thursday night with Cllr Richard Dickson making a wider point on the council suffering from “project overload”.

“Even this week we have approved four more major projects – yes, they will deliver benefits for the residents but they have to be managed,” he said. 

“We can go over the reasons why (housing on) the Kenilworth school sites got delayed in the first instance, they were delayed when this administration took office because there were delays in other projects.”

Further questions came on whether upcoming plans to merge councils could take progress – or the entire proposal – out of the district’s hands with Cllr Davison “mindful of the need to make progress on these things” and Cllr Chilvers keen for cross-party support to help mitigate such a prospect.

“We don’t know when a shadow unitary is going to be in place, it is likely to carry on getting delayed but the further down the line we are with the process, the harder it is for the decision to be undone,” he said. 

Cllr Peter Phillips said they could rely on Conservative support but appeared to press Cllr Davison on the political will to make this happen, asking him to confirm he would “push this as far and as fast as possible to make sure contracts are signed before May 2027”.

The leader was somewhat coy, insisting “you can’t prejudge the outcome” of preparatory work while adding: “We are very keen that is done in partnership with the football club so the design works and is affordable. Yes, as teamwork, we are pushing as hard as we can.”

Cllr Day argued that “actions speak louder than words” and encouraged the council to “invest and buy in to meet a timeline” on the project management front.

“Residents in my ward in particular accepted a lot of new housing on the basis of community benefits that have not been realised – Tachbrook Country Park and the community stadium,” he said.

“It is simply not satisfactory to promise that some future administration is going to deliver either of those projects, particularly this one.”

Cllr Chilvers said the council was working on projects across a “range of subject areas” with choices on funding sources made based on “how they all fit together”.