L&Q urged to accept 'fresh £9 million bid' for Walthamstow Stadium site

Published by Ross Macmillan for 24dash.com in Housing and also in Communities, Local Government

It's understood businessman Bob Morton has repeated a £9 million bid to London and Quadrant (L&Q) to buy Walthamstow Stadium, and reintroduce greyhound racing at the famous East London venue.

The offer is understood to have been submitted in a letter to L&Q’s Chief Executive David Montague.

The offer follows months of wrangling and uncertainty over the future of the site, which has been shut since 2008, after L&Q bought the site for a reported £18million.

Iain Duncan Smith - MP  for Chingford and Woodford Green - has accused L&Q of behaving like a property speculator with no regard for local people.

He has said: "The stadium has been derelict for nearly two-and-a-half years now for the simple fact that L&Q paid too much for it and now refuse to sell at a lower price."

L&Q said it was forced to postpone consultation events at the site in December last year after it claimed its staff had been threatened by leaders of the Save our Stow (SoS) campaign group who want dog racing brought back to Walthamstow Stadium.

The claim was denied by Save our Stow.

L&Q wants to build around 300 new homes on the site, a modern leisure centre, children’s nursery, allotments and new jobs to meet the needs of local people.

Bob Morton wants to reintroduce greyhound racing and provide affordable housing. He has also offered to work with L&Q on providing a mix of affordable housing with a greyhound racing track.

Last August, L&Q rejected a £4 million offer from Mr Morton.

On the repeated offer, SoS said: "It is now time for our ‘Major East End Landmark’ and ‘best surviving and most celebrated inter- war greyhound stadium’ (as quoted by English Heritage) to be returned to it’s historic use. The stadium is completely viable and Mr Morton has given assurances to the council leadership that he will return the stadium to its full glory for East Londoners and the borough to enjoy and in time for next Summer’s Olympics if a deal can be finalised shortly.

"He also pledged more affordable housing on the site than L&Q’s current plans offer and pledged full support to the borough with millions of pounds of private investment creating 1,500 jobs and a sustainable night-time economy."