Shropshire Star

Shropshire Council taking steps to recover £80,000 TNS football grant

Shropshire Council is taking steps to recover an £80,000 grant from The New Saints Football Club.

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The New Saints Football Club

It comes after a two-month investigation into whether the club wrongly failed to pay back the money to Oswestry Town Council.

The Welsh Premier champions, based in the town, were given a legacy grant from Shropshire Council in 2011 to build new seating at their Park Hall ground to allow them to play in European competitions.

However, private investigator Paul Wiseman alleged the club had failed to pay back £16,000 a year for five years.

In a letter to the town council earlier this month, Mr Wiseman said: "As a council tax payer of Oswestry, I am formally asking that Oswestry Town Council instruct their legal team to recover the monies owed.

"Oswestry Town Council have a duty to safeguard the interests of Oswestry tax payers and not the sensibilities of Shropshire Council."

But at a special meeting of the town council on Wednesday, town clerk David Preston revealed Shropshire Council has now started taking steps to recoup the money.

The £80,000 was awarded, and the agreement was that the club could be asked to pay back the money under certain conditions in the form of agreed grants from January 2013, to the Oswestry Joint Economic Board, which would identify projects in the town.

Councillor Duncan Kerr said: "This whole issue is rather troubling to us. We have still not seen a copy of the agreement between TNS and Shropshire Council. They owe it to us to give us a copy of it because this whole thing sullies our reputation."

A condition was that the club would be involved in discussions to review funding applications to the board.

Initially the board did not include the football club, which was in the terms of the grant agreement, and went on to approve schemes.

However despite not being involved, the club agreed to reimburse the council on the understanding it would be involved in a more active role.

Councillor Kerr also said as part of the agreement, schools in the Oswestry area should have been allowed to use the facilities at the club's base, Park Hall, free of charge.

"This was part of the conditions but it seems as if no one has actually been told that they have this marvellous opportunity," he added.

Members agreed to write to all the local schools informing them of the agreement.

TNS denies any wrongdoing.

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