The future viability of St Johnstone as a top-flight football club is being put at risk by council plans for a new road, the Perth club’s chairman has warned.
Councillors could give the green light next week to a major upgrade of the A9/A85 junction that is thought necessary for the future infrastructure of west Perth.
Saints chairman Steve Brown is now ready to go to war with the local authority over the scheme.
Mr Brown has blasted a council report recommending planning approval, which he claims fails to take into account the long-term operational and financial impact the works could have on the club.
In a letter to David Littlejohn, head of planning and development at Perth and Kinross Council, Mr Brown said: “Although I cannot say I’m surprised, it completely fails to give your elected members an accurate description of the harm the project will do to the club.”
The proposed scheme will result in the permanent loss of more than 4.5 acres of land from the stadium grounds at McDiarmid Park.
The club’s concerns include the loss of their training pitch, which they believe is “critical to the long-term wellbeing and viability of St Johnstone as a top-flight football club”.
The Scottish Cup holders feel the council has not offered a permanent solution to make up for the loss of the pitch, which is currently in use up to six days a week.
They claim that due to the amount of land taken, and because of the public safety aspects of operating a football training pitch immediately next to what will become a very busy highway, the pitch will become unfit for purpose.
The club are also concerned that a loss of parking spaces for customers and spectators could impact on revenue and further hit them in the pocket.
The council report states: “The overall impact on the operation of McDiarmid Park is not considered to be adversely significant or unmanageable through the impact of the proposed scheme.”
Mr Brown claimed that, although the club’s objections are noted in the report, there has been a failure to properly evaluate them.
He told Mr Littlejohn: “You merely claim that the impacts are ‘fully accounted for’ and our interests are not ‘adversely significant or unmanageable’.
“How do you reach those conclusions?”
Mr Brown added the club are in discussions with senior council officers regarding the training pitch, access/exit routes, noise and disturbance issues.
He said: “In relation to each of these, there is a distinct possibility that the outcomes will be different from those shown on the plans or described in the committee report.
“I contend that it is misleading and premature to be seeking committee approval for proposals which, in all probability, will be changed.
He concluded: “I therefore strongly recommend that the report be withdrawn.
“If that does not happen I demand at the very least that you advise the committee that the claim about the training pitch is correct.”
The report, due to go before the council’s development management committee next Wednesday, states the current junction is a major constraint on both transport and the development of economic growth in and around Perth.
The report concludes: “It is considered that the ‘do-nothing’ scenario is not a viable long-term option and that a major upgrade of this junction with associated infrastructure is essential if Perth is to continue to flourish and its citizens continue to enjoy a high-standard quality of life.”