Everton set to pay £350,000 to Liverpool Council ahead of ‘appalling’ private meeting
Everton are prepared to pay “around half” of the £700,000 Liverpool City Council spent on the Bramley-Moore Dock project, the Liverpool Echo reports.
The city spent that amount in due diligence fees when it planned to help fund the club’s new stadium development, although the Toffees subsequently did not accept the loan and sought alternative funding.
The local authority has already been ordered to conduct an investigation into the charges after local government commissioners slammed the “failure of governance” that saw the council incur “significant expenditure” looking into a loan that never happened (Echo).
Now, according to the Echo, the club “are happy to pay the fees which specifically relate to the Bramley Moore project”, equating to roughly £350,000.
Liberal Democrat Councillor Richard Kemp has said of the remaining amount, via the Echo: “There were plans for the venue to be able to host the Commonwealth Games as Liverpool pursued its ill-fated bid. Other parts of the money seem to relate to internal reviews about the matter rather than the due diligence work needed by the council.”
Kemp is also furious that the matter is set for a behind-closed-doors discussion next Friday (22 April), saying: “It is appalling that this report is going into a private business session so that the people of Liverpool might never know how much was lost in this ill thought venture.”
Unpopular
It is no surprise that there is anger considering a large amount of public money looks to have been wasted on agreements that ultimately never came about.
It appears to be more of an issue within the decision making of local government than the club itself, but will still not make the Toffees look especially good by association.
In that light it is the right move for the club to reimburse the council for the expenditure related to the stadium project.
Although Everton could do without yet another expense considering their own financial state.
But in comparison to some of the numbers involved in the £120.9million loss revealed by the latest accounts it is relatively small.
The £500million project on the club’s new home is due to be completed during the 2024/25 season.
The 52,888 capacity will be a significant increase on the current 39,572 that can fit into Goodison Park.
In other Everton news, Dele Alli’s social media message to Donny van de Beek illustrates a Toffees opportunity missed.
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