As I have said earlier....The Council believed that they could claw back the land leases themselves and use the proceeds to pay down the 10.75m loan. They issued statements and press releases to this end when they announced they'd saved the club by writing off the debt which the club had been saddled with.
They knew pretty early on that they had been scuppered in this by someone (KT/DB) salvaging certain assets from the liquidator by way of CVA, so then they went down the legal route of trying to recover the monies from the perpetrators of the deal.
They would have been quids in had they claimed back the leases AND got back the money legally..........but in fact it looks like they are going to end up with neither and still a 10 million quid black hole to fill.
You're absolutely right, Grange, but it's worth bearing in mind that among the promises made in the MoU: NTFC will surrender an area of land to the east of the stadium to NBC, to facilitate NBC’s development of the site. In return, the Council will discharge its loans to NTFC, and NTFC will cooperate with NBC in certain respects regarding assignment of debts due to it by 1st Land and CDNL and thus any claims or rights it has connected to the loan monies.
This provision will enable the Council to pursue recovery of its loan monies.Also, the Consortium will complete improvements to the East Stand (presumably via non-council assisted funds).
It can be argued that the Council have once again slipped up on due-diligence. But, as a resident of Northampton, and given they were acting with haste to assist NTFC, this all leaves a pretty sour taste in my mouth. I don't mind the Consortium making money on a land deal, but only if NBC (the people of Northampton) get a good slice of that pie, and the club get an impressive new East Stand - and not a thrown together s***-pit.