CRICKET chiefs in Durham could be handed a £2.8m council package to secure international games over the next four years.
Durham Council, which is currently overseeing a four-year budget plan that has seen savings of £125m and 1,600 job losses, have agreed to invest the cash in a bid to secure a “sustainable business model” at Durham County Cricket Club.
The council fund, approved at a meeting held in private due to “commercial sensitivities”, relies on successful applications to the English Cricket Board and the North East Local Enterprise Partnership for additional funds.
Officials with the club were unable to say how the cash would be spent other than to say it was on “new seating” that would be used to “secure international cricket”.
Last night Simon Henig, leader of the council, said the cash would be drawn from a pot funded from land sales and loans, and would not put other projects at risk of being “scaled back”.
“This is not council tax money being used and it won’t hit the taxpayer,” he said. “This is about safeguarding jobs, moving forward and hoping the cricket club will build a sustainable business.
“The in-principle agreement to provide capital support is just part of a solution necessary by all partners involved which we hope will secure the future for international cricket and the huge economic benefits it brings to the region moving forward.”
The council granted the club a loan of £1.25m less than four years ago, to be paid back over 15 years at a commercial interest rate of 4.75%.
Last night, a club spokesman also said a Regional Growth Fund grant would be paid on completion of longer term development work, which includes the build of a hotel, gateway and seating at the Chester-le-Street ground.
In a statement Clive Leach, chairman of the business which employs more than 100 people, said the club was expected to generate more than £60m of wealth for the North East by the end of 2016
“However, we need to demonstrate local stakeholder support to ensure we have the wherewithal to build upon the work we have undertaken already, make international cricket a permanent fixture here in Durham and leverage that status to bring investment into the club.” Mr Leach said.
“We believe that, with the financial support we have been afforded, we can do just that and, as a result, develop the club into a profitable, community focused business and realise the benefits of the long game we have been playing.”
An independent impact report has shown that the cricket club will contribute almost £20m to the local economy this year, and a further £40m over the next three years.
This summer, the club will make history by hosting the Australians in what will be the first Ashes Test match to be played in the North East.
This will be followed by a T20 match against the same nation before a string of “high profile fixtures which will also bring in many millions to the economy and offer us a unique opportunity to showcase this region on a global scale”.
A spokeswoman for the North East Local Enterprise Partnership confirmed it would consider the application at a board meeting next week.
She said: “This is being assessed as part of a proposal to a partnership that also involves Durham County Council, the England and Wales Cricket Board and the directors of the County Cricket Club.
“The North East LEP and county council are working closely together on this proposal. We know that Durham County Council met yesterday and agreed, in principle, to financial support for Durham County Cricket Club, as part of the partnership.”
A spokesperson at the ECB said: “The ECB is delighted that Durham County Cricket Club is working together with its local stakeholders to produce a sustainable, long term business model.
“The engagement of local stakeholders is essential to the well-being of any First Class County, as has been proven elsewhere in the country over recent years.”
