By Zippy
January 3 2004

Controversial Leader of the Bridgend Borough Council Jeff Jones has spoken out about claims that the Brewery Field will be sold to a major retailer to fund the new stadium for the Warriors Taken From P18 Of The Western Mail - Jan 2nd 2003
"SIR - I once again read with amazement Leighton Samuel's comments regarding the Brewery Field (The Western Mail, December 30) and you should be aware of the following facts.

Since Mr Samuel made his announcement that he was selling the Brewery Field he has made no attempt to contact Bridgend County Borough Council whatsoever.

The lease of the Brewery Field is held by his firm Decoframe plc. The lease does not have 64 years to run but 46 years.

It includes two clauses: (a) the ground can only be used for rugby football and (b) the lease can only be assigned to another rugby football club.

Mr Samuel only pays £7,800 per annum to the council for this lease. It will increase in April next year, but only in line with inflation.

The council, not Mr Samuel, owns the car park, which cuts the ground off from the main road.

Tesco - before Christmas - has already issued a statement in which it categorically denies making any offer to Mr Samuel for the Brewery Field.

There are significant problems with any major development on the Brewery Field site. It is not designated within the present Unitary Development Plan (UDP) or the future UDP for retailing. Any application would therefore be out of accord and could be called in by the National Assembly for Wales.

There is also the issue about what effect such a development will have on Bridgend itself. As an authority, we have already employed consultants who suggest that Bridgend would have great difficulty sustaining more than two supermarkets.

Asda have already been given outline planning permission for one of those supermarkets and Tesco are interested in another part of the town.

Since the Brewery Field is on the main road out of Bridgend there would also be major highways implications. The local member for the area has already been inundated with objections from residents who live in houses north of the Brewery Field to any possible development in that area.

Common sense would tell anyone that as the council is the owner of the land then the council would make the most of the money from the sale of the land concerned. Mr Samuel's gain would be as a leaseholder being bought out of the lease.

I would however like to reiterate that the council has no intention whatsoever of redeveloping the Brewery Field. Bridgend Rugby Club and the Celtic Warriors can use the ground at a reasonable price for at least the next 46 years.

We cannot stop Mr Samuel if he wishes to leave the Bridgend area and build a new stadium anywhere in South Wales, but he should realise that anyone is only interested in a sporting team if that sporting team benefits the area concerned.

Obviously any games in the Brewery Field would bring in spectators who would eat and drink in the area and, might if they came from France, Scotland and Ireland, stay in hotels in the area.

Unfortunately the name chosen for the regional side does not help in any marketing of our area. Celtic Warriors could apply to any team in any part of Wales, Scotland or Ireland.

COUNCILLOR JJ JONES

Leader, Bridgend County Borough Council"

What do we make of this?
- Firstly as expected the PR disaster that is Jeff Jones has got himself involved in another high profile dispute. For those not in the know his last was the dispute over the WRU academy at Island Farm, the site was to be built over a former German POW campsite of the famous "Welsh Great Escape". Jones described the area as "a shrine to Nazism".
- It can be argued Jeff Jones is performing his job and protecting the rights of his borough. As leader it is his duty to ensure top-flight rugby remains in the borough, by moving to Treforest and selling the Brewery Field, Bridgend would be left without a Pro Rugby Team or Ground.
- He has a dig at the name "Celtic Warriors", just going over old ground Jeff, what’s done is done.
- If the facts are true then the ground will not be sold, I for one find it odd that Samuels who has spent so much time and energy developing the Brewery field would be so quick and easy about destroying it. Then again there were rumours abound about the safety of the new structures.
- But if a significant offer is made including jobs etc, do we think the council will reject such an offer?


As with all things that surround the Warriors at present this is a minefield that will take time to fully unravel.