End in sight for row on £650k Cannock Asda cash

Asda handed the cash over as part of the conditions attached to building its 24-hour store in Avon Road eight years ago.

But there were fears that the money would be clawed back as it was not spent in time by the local authority.

Cannock Council is due to agree at a full council meeting on Wednesday that the cash will definitely go towards the revamp of the old Cannock Stadium off Pye Green Road.

The original sum handed over by Asda was £500,000 but, with interest, it has risen to £650,000.

Council leader George Adamson said today: "We will agree to spend the money on the stadium project.

"It should have gone to the stadium in the first place.

"We inherited this problem from the previous Liberal Democrats and Conservative-run council. They didn't spend the money in the allocated time," he added.

The £500,000 sum was paid by Asda when the store was built in 2005, as part of a Section 106 requirement to contribute to the area.

It was earmarked for an all-weather field at the old Cannock Stadium before it was knocked down.

According to the conditions, the council should have spent the money by May 2010 – and while Asda was initially willing to extend the time limit, it said the stadium being demolished in November 2009 meant the agreement was void.

At one point, it was feared the dispute may end up in court.

But discussions continued between the two parties before it was decided the money should go to the Cannock Stadium site.

Millions of pounds is being spent on rebuilding the stadium.

Football pitches and an athletics track are the preferred options for the site.

A feasibility study into the proposals is currently taking place and is due to continue into next year.

Cannock Council has been given £1.5m to rebuild the former Cannock Stadium site.

The money has come from Staffordshire County Council after it sold land at Pye Green Valley in Hednesford for more than 300 new homes.