MP Wera Hobhouse declares support for Bath City

Bath MP Wera Hobhouse has publicly declared her support for Bath City FC and encouraged the Bath & North East Somerset planning committee to take into account the redevelopment scheme’s “substantial community benefit” when making their decision this Wednesday at 2pm.

Her statement reads:

“I wish to express in the strongest terms my support for Bath City Football Club. The club has been in financial difficulties for a number of years and has recently become community owned.

The efforts over the last two years that have gone into providing an outstanding community facility for the people of Twerton and beyond has been exemplary, and I believe the community value to the city is very high.

It would be a real tragedy if we now lost the club from the city because the financial viability of the club is now in the balance.

I know that the planning application raises significant concern about the harm that the development of the student housing might do, and if it was a stand- alone application, the case for refusal would be a lot clearer.

However, in this case, the substantial community benefit needs to be taken into account, and I ask the committee to carefully consider the balance of the two.”