By Zippy
September 13 2006

A further twist in Llanelli Scarlets plans for a new stadium last night. There will be a full public enquiry further delaying the new stadium.

From the Western Mail

A PUBLIC inquiry is to be held into the Llanelli Scarlets' controversial plan to turn its Stradey Park ground into a housing estate, it was confirmed yesterday.

Two months after the club's plans to build 450 homes on the Stradey Park site were called in, the Assembly Government announced the application will now go to a public inquiry.

A spokesperson for the Welsh Assembly Government said last night, "An inspector will now examine the application in detail at a public inquiry and will then submit a report to the Assembly, with a recommendation on how to proceed. Ministers have made it clear that a decision will be taken as quickly as possible, having regard to the statutory procedures that must be followed."

Last night the club's chief executive, Stuart Gallacher, who last week warned the region was facing financial ruin as a result of the decision to call in the plans, urged for the inquiry to be fast tracked in order to limit damage to the club.

Messageboard Reaction:

http://www.sportnetwork.net/boards/read/s193.php?f=279&i=23153&t=23153&sid=193

From Pross:

1. The Scarlets board must be very naiive if they did not allow for costs and timescales associated with the full planning process. Not all schemes get called in but a 450 home residential development is a fair size and it seems to me that high profile schemes are usually called in. If they were not advised of this risk by their planning consultants then they should be considering suing them. I am sure that the local council that originally granted planning consent would have had a few members with an interest in the Scarlets so if I were an objector I would be looking very closely at the whole process and mounting a legal challenge to the consent as well as the call-in.

2. The Scarlets have made a financial rod for their own backs by going it alone. They have already been bailed out once in the past and if they are again it will be scandalous especially in the wake of what happened to the Warriors who had far less debt. Leave them sink and have a 4th region run by the WRU in the North playing out of Wrexham.

Does anyone know what sort on non-rugby events they hope to run if / when the new stadium is built? They will have to do some serious undercutting on prices to tempt events away from Liberty Stadium with their proximity and Swansea's far greater population base.