Nottingham 2018 World Cup bid hits trouble

September 9 - Nottingham's plans to build a new 45,000 seat stadium to host matches in the 2018 World Cup if England's campaign is unsuccessful could be in trouble after the Leader of the County Council attacked the proposals.

Kay Cutts, the Conservative Leader of Nottinghamshire County Council, has hit out at the plans to build a new ground at Gamston and accused the City Council of trying to force them to adopt the scheme by making it public through the media.

Nottingham City Council have denied the allegation and claim the County was fully aware of the development plans, because the authority is part of the Nottingham 2018 World Cup bid team.

But Cutts insists they will not support any proposal unless it is focussed on the City Ground, the home of two-time European Cup winners Nottingham Forest and which staged matches during the 1996 European Championships.

She said: “We’ve made it very clear that we would only support a bid on the existing Forest site.

"Our land at Gamston is not for sale.

“We don’t believe that changing the location of our premier ground is a good move - it’s bad for football, bad for business, bad for local people and risks scuppering our bid to be a World Cup city.”

Officials have tried to gloss over the row but it is nevertheless a setback for campaigners hoping Nottingham will be chosen from 16 cities and towns across England bidding to host matches when the Football Association decides in December.

Jennifer Spencer, interim chief executive at Experience Nottinghamshire, said: "There is much discussion to be had.

"This is part of the process and understanding everybody's issues."

Spencer and other supporters has warned that Nottingham could lose out financially if the city is not chosen as one of the 12 host venues.

She said: "It is difficult to collate the enormity of the impact the World Cup would have."

Professor Alan Dodson, the pro Vice Chancellor at the University of Nottingham, who is also part of the bid team, has backed Spencer.

He said: "I would hope the City and County Councils work together and sort a solution.

"Personally, I think it would be a loss to the region [if the bid did not go ahead].

"I think we have a really good bid."

Nottingham bid officials claim they could proceed without the County Council, even though the authority has said it will not sell its land on the site.

However, the Gamston land is predominantly owned by Havenwood Construction and Nottingham City Council.

Only an estimated 10 per cent is in the ownership of the County Council.

But the FA is unlikely to be willing to put forward a bid to the world governing body FIFA body featuring Nottingham if they fear it could turn into a major dispute that could unnecessary bad publicity for them in the build-up to the final vote on December 2, 2010.

Jane Todd, the chief executive of Nottingham City Council, has claimed that the affair will soon be settled.

She said: "As always we will work with the County Council.

"The relationships between the Councils is very cordial.

"We will work it through."

Last month another proposed site for the new stadium between Holme Pierrepont and Lady Bay was attacked by green campaigners.