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Cornwall Stadium An Overview

Background

There has been a significant amount of review and discussion over the past fewyears on the appropriate location for a sports stadium in Cornwall. The CambornePool Redruth Urban Regeneration Company (URC) and the then Cornwall County

Council commissioned Drivas Jonas to produce a report in 2007, which looked ata number of different locations and specific sites within Cornwall. The areasconsidered included Saltash, St Austell, Newquay, Falmouth,Camborne/Pool/Redruth (CPR), Truro and Bodmin. Following analysis, the viableareas were reduced to CPR and Truro, where five sites were investigated.

Cornwall Council Process

When the Cornwall Council came into being in April 2009 it was keen to takestock of the situation in regards of the Stadium. To assess and manage theproject the Council established:

Cornwall Council Steering Board chaired by the Cabinet Member forEconomy and Regeneration to provide a strategic overview and steer theproject. The Board includes the Chief Executive and senior managers.

Cornwall Council Officer Group chaired by Major Projects Manager inEconomic Development to manage and support the contract on a day to daybasis.

Stakeholder Groupchaired by Head of Economic development includes key

stakeholders including potential tenants and partners.

The Council commissioned stadium specialists Gardiner and Theobald (G&T) inMarch 2010 to look at the possibility of creating a new sports and events stadiumin Cornwall. In order to establish the viability of a Stadium for Cornwall, G&T arerequired to:

Stage 1 - identify a suitable location and undertake a market appraisal;

Stage 2 - assess the projects feasibility;

Stage 3 - produce a Business Case.

Process

Based on the findings of the site assessment exercise, G&T will move forward toestablish in further detail the suitability of the shortlisted sites for a Stadium forCornwall, including developing the facility mix, design and business case.

The study is expected to be completed in December 2010. If the studydemonstrates that the stadium can be delivered and supported both in terms ofcapital and ongoing revenue then the Council Cabinet will look to make adecision in 2011 whether to continue and deliver the project.

If a decision to proceed is made, any stadium proposal would then proceedthrough appropriate processes, including planning.

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Summary of Site Assessment (Stage 1)

Stage 1 Identifying a suitable location

Stage 1 involved an independent evaluation of sites with the potential toaccommodate and sustain a stadium complex that meets the requirements of theCouncils cost issues and other potential key stakeholders. This is an essential

part of the overall feasibility assessment.

The G&T teams identification of stadium sites involved revisiting earlier studiesand, most importantly, assessing any new potential sites.

The exercise ran between May and August 2010 and involved a series of internalreviews by the G&T team and the Council. This process was designed to ensurethat the recommended sites offer strong opportunities for the future delivery of asustainable stadium project that meets the requirements set out in the projectvision. The Steering Board agreed the following vision to guide the developmentof the project.

An inspirational multi use Stadium and Visitor Complex built toexemplar environmental standards which maximises the economic

benefits to Cornwall, encourages participation in sports and isaccessible to all.

G&T site identification process

In April 2010, supported by Council officers and Cornwall Development Company(CDC), G&T began the site evaluation process. Indicative site criteria andconsiderations were agreed to inform their process of identifying sites, basedaround essential and desirable characteristics for a series of potential stadiumand supporting facilities. There were four key considerations when identifying

possible sites:

Stadium with professional sports team as tenants;

Stadium with amateur/lower tier sports team as tenants;

Community sports facilities; and

Commercial/enabling development.

Evaluation criteria

Each of the sites put forward was firstly subject to initial pass/fail evaluationbased on:

whether it meets the minimum size required to accommodate the stadiumfootprint for the base facility (i.e. a 10,000 capacity stadium and associatedoperational space with no additional community facilities) OR

Any other significant observation/reason.

Assuming that a site passed on this element, it was taken forward to the fullevaluation.

Based on its combined experience of similar projects, G&T developed a siteevaluation matrix specific to the Cornwall Stadium project. This includedconsideration of a number of key site characteristics and feedback from the

Council and key stakeholders. Weightings were also applied (having beendiscussed and agreed with the Council) to these criteria to reflect their relativeimportance. The key areas evaluated were Transport, Social, Environment and

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Economic factors, with sub-criteria in each area. Each criterion was marked outof 10.

Site Scoring Criteria:

The Officer Group reviewed the draft criteria and weightings, and proposedamendments that were incorporated into the matrix. This was endorsed by theSteering Board meeting held on 8 June 2010. The final matrix was then appliedto the longlisted sites.

G&T completed an initial draft scoring of all sites. The scores at which the team

arrived, and the rationale behind the score awarded on each criterion, were thencirculated to the Officer Group for their review and comment. On receipt ofcomments, G&T re-scored sites where it was deemed appropriate in the light ofnew information brought forward.

A second phase of review, comment, and amendment assimilation wascompleted to reveal the preferred sites for the development of a Stadium forCornwall.

Shortlisting findings

Based on the pass/fail criteria detailed above, some sites were discounted from

further consideration.23 specific sites were therefore evaluated in full against the agreed scoringmatrix, based on the information made available to the G&T team supplemented,where possible, by additional G&T research.

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Application of the site scoring matrix suggested that privately owned sites inTruro, and particularly in Threemilestone, are best suited for the Stadium.Although factors differ between sites, this can largely be attributed to factorsincluding:

Potential anchor tenants preference for the stadium to be in Truro the G&Tteam considers that a anchor tenant, such as, the Cornish Pirates is

extremely important for the viability, profile and sustainability of a CornwallStadium project;

The benefit of having a second anchor tenant in Truro City Football Club,which is not possible beyond this conurbation;

The greater appeal of Truro to the private sector and resulting greaterpotential to deliver enabling development and be financially feasible, and todeliver non-matchday usage at these sites;

The opportunities created by the existence of the Truro West Park & Ridescheme in the city, and potential for a further Truro East Park & Ride, with

particular potential to deliver a sustainable transport solution on matchdays; At Threemilestone in particular, the strong opportunities to deliver synergies

with nearby hospital and college sites.

However, in acknowledging the potential issues with delivering a stadiumcomplex on privately-owned land (the Council does not control any of the top-scoring sites) the project team have suggested that sites in Council ownership berevisited for their suitability in greater detail should the preferred Truro sitesprove undeliverable.

September 2010

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