Angelic Cynic wrote:
An asset of community value doesn't seem to be as good as I first thought.
The ground is listed as an Asset of Community Value, meaning that any sale by Cheshire Sports would have to be up on hold for six months to give the club supporters ’co-operative group the chance of raising the cash for a bid of its own.
Assets of Community Value - Right to Bid - isn't the be all and end all some have suggested. The Community Group that nominate it need to be a legal entity at point that someone decides to sell. It only stays in place for five years, but if need be the community can reapply for another five year period. If the owner decides to sell they can not without informing the council, though a sale to someone who would continue in that use might not trigger the ACV. It does prevent the sale taking place without the Community Group knowing and gives the opportunity for fund raising as you identify. If the owner decides to sell they inform the Community Group who have six weeks to decide if they want to make a bid to purchase it. If in that six weeks the answer is yes then the six weeks extends to six months. During this time the only group that could negotiate with the owner is the community group. However at the end of the period it is an open market sale and the owner can sell to whoever they please, but the site remains as an asset on the register. It is a material consideration for planning purposes and would be identified in any land searches. It therefore might not be that attractive to another purchaser.
I don't know the companies background but an ACV is a restriction and could affect liquidity as the owners can not cash it in immediately. There is support out there for groups looking at ACV and while Pubs may not seem an obvious example CAMERA have been very active in advising. Also Govt created a support programme with expert advice and pre-feasibility grants up to £10k to help groups develop the capacity and larger grants up to £100k to help in feasibility to take ownership and manage. This programme was due to be replaced by the Govt this year. Try contacting The Social Investment Business Group or Locality. Though suspect the supporters group will already know this.
