Latimer Lee partner defends Man U fan in dispute over Man City expansion
Regional property lawyer Chris Platt of Manchester-based Latimer Lee is leading a land dispute between Manchester City Football Club and a fan of rival side Manchester United.
The partner has been instructed to represent Manchester United supporter and landowner Shaun O’Brien against legal action taken by Manchester City Council and Manchester City.
The latter two are seeking a compulsory purchase order (CPO) of O’Brien’s vehicle recovery business in order to pave the way for the club’s £100m training ground expansion plans.
Platt has played his first card and recruited CPO expert David Napier of London surveyors GL Hearn to advise.
And The Lawyer can reveal that a date has been set for 1 May for a public inquiry into the battle.
However, Platt has yet to instruct a barrister, whereas the council’s in-house lawyer Celia Tierney has already made her move, instructing deputy chambers head Ian Dove QC and Celina Colquhoun of No5 Chambers in Birmingham.
O’Brien has been offering 1sq ft pieces of his land at £250 each to the public in order to thwart the Abu Dhabi-owned club’s expansion.
The club, which is acting as an interested party, is being represented by its general counsel Simon Cliff.
It has been reported that O’Brien has turned down an initial offer of £1m for his plot and that negotiations have broken down. He said that the dispute is down to the lack of respect and manner of the initial offer, rather than footballing rivalry.
The Blues revealed in July last year that they want to spend £100m transforming a run-down 80-acre plot in the shadow of the Etihad Stadium. The plans include a 7,000-capacity arena, community facilities and a sixth-form college. Backers say the project would create 250 jobs and kick-start development in one of Britain’s poorest neighbourhoods.
If successful, a CPO would force the landowners in the 80-acre area of Openshaw West to sell to the council at market value.
The decision on whether to grant an order would be made by the secretary of state for communities following a public inquiry before a Government planning inspector.
Regeneration chief Eddie Smith said he is still hopeful of further dialogue, but it appears the opposing legal teams are already drawing lines in the sand.
Readers' comments (8)
Anonymous | 19-Mar-2012 8:14 am
The tactics being employed by this guy are selfish beyond belief. Depriving East Manchester of jobs because of football club loyalties is frankly pathetic. He'll lose and be forced to sell at market rate so he'll end up with less money than was origunally offered no doubt. Another daft decision by a man who gas already gone bust previously I have read.
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Marshall Whittaker | 19-Mar-2012 10:29 am
I cannot see that any true sportsman would be so blatantly pig headed as to object to City expanding their grounds. This reeks of profit opportunism and I fear that , as so often is the case, the only people who will benefit from this silly little show of bad faith are the lawyers . No disrespect to the lawyers involved , that is their job and they must act on their instructions but really this is stretching 15 minutes of fame too far.
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peterpop | 19-Mar-2012 12:07 pm
What else would you expect from a bitter red nose.Do you think this guy would sell his £250 plots to any of the public,without finding out if they support City or not.Wouldn,t be surprised if he didn't have some backing from the swamp
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Jeremy Poynton | 19-Mar-2012 4:41 pm
Pale grey typeface on a white background means anyone with poor eyesight cannot read this blog.
Author - there's a reason books are printed in black and white...
Oh and by the way, how much is O'Brien's firm in the red? £350K or more, I read. Sounds like that is what he trying to address to me...
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roger haigh | 19-Mar-2012 5:55 pm
i'm sure the ratepayers of manchester will be delighted that the legal profession will be earning a small fortune from this dispute. When the council win their case o'brien should be made to pay all costs.
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Stu | 19-Mar-2012 6:06 pm
This guy is just bright enough to realise that he will lose the land anyway. So why not use football rivalry to mug off a load of gullible United fans and pocket £1.3m from many United fans in the process rather than £1m he would get from City.
A bit of joined up thinking and enterpreneurship I would say!
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Anonymous | 19-Mar-2012 7:43 pm
Typical rag fan and they call us bitter.Jobs for the area anew home for his buisness and a big improvement to the area,whats up with him
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Anonymous | 20-Mar-2012 10:04 am
I understood that they weren't new jobs for the area which were being created - rather they were just moving existing jobs and staff from their carrington training ground to the new site. Presumably the new site is attractive as anyone who lives in the area knows City have been given urban regeneration funding to move sites. In effect Trafford jobs are moving to Manchester. I don't know anything about the facts of the dispute (nor do i care) but i suppose the owner who may have been there for a long time may feel aggreived that he should be forced to move just because the football club (which is relatively new to the area) decides it needs more space and wants to take advantage of government/EU money.
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