Correct me if I'm wrong but the whole argument now seems to rest on the SoS clause that the land can not be aggregated away piece by piece in order to circumvent the S106.
Yorkcourt, perhaps chancing their luck, put in a revised Newcold planning permission half expecting the WMDC to knock it back and quote the aggregation clause at them. Instead the WMDC, in their incompetence, waved it through and allowed the loophole to open.
That's the 'Once Upon a Time' version, the other version is far more sinister with dark rooms, shady characters, conspirators and certainly isn't bedtime story stuff for young kids.
In hindsight, and I know this doesn't help, the clause should have had a monetary value linked to every m2 of development on the site, say £200 for every m2 which equates to £12,000,000 for 60,000 m2.
That would mean that even if YCP only built 30,000m2 they would owe us £6,000,000 etc etc. that kind of clause would actually encourage YCP to do the whole development to mitigate or dilute the percentage of profit per m2 down as far down as possible.
Maybe if this becomes a legal battle and YCP lose or are found guilty of acting fraudulently during the PI, this scale could be used to award money to the Stadium Trust even retrospectively taking the Newcold building into account.
Far fetched, maybe or maybe not, you'd have to convince a judge that YCP intentionally misrepresented their position, never intended to build a stadium and have acted outside the spirit of the partnerships and agreements they entered into. Remember verbal contracts can be upheld in law if the actions of a party are such that they indicate acceptance of the agreement.
Just a bit of food for thought!
