By Harry Mottram: After months of planning, speculation, protests and debates over whether Bath Rugby should or should not build a new stadium to replace the current rugby ground finally the plans have been given the go-ahead. At a planning meeting on September 17th, 2025, at the Guildhall the council’s planning committee voted 8-1 in favour and soon after the Government’s Secretary for Local Government gave it his blessing.
It means that the lengthy process of taking down the old stands will take place one by one allowing play to continue as they are replaced over a period of months and years by the approved design. The temporary East stand will be replaced by a permanent one and the pitch will have an all-weather surface.
Reaction has been mixed – with the rugby club relieved and thrilled by the decision and those against still unrepentant in their opposition. Writing on the Bath Rugby website the club said: “We are delighted to have today received confirmation that the Secretary of State has decided not to call in the Stadium for Bath planning application for his own determination, and he is content for it to be determined by the local planning authority.
“Therefore the Article 31 Direction issued is formally withdrawn and once the legal agreement is completed, the Council can now issue their decision to approve the club’s planning application following their positive considerations at the Planning Committee meeting last week (September 17).”
Chief Executive Tarquin McDonald said, “We are thrilled to have received this news so swiftly. This is testament to the quality of our proposals which received no objections from any statutory consultees, including UNESCO World Heritage. We look forward to our planning application being formally approved and moving onto the next stage of detailed design. We will continue to keep our passionate and loyal supporters updated at every step of the journey.”
Wera Hobhouse, Liberal Democrat MP for Bath, said: “Many congratulations to Bath Rugby – this is a wonderful moment for the club and for our city. Every Bathonian knows how much excitement matchdays bring to the city. I’ve seen first hand how the club has worked hard over many years to reach this point – consulting widely and adapting its plans to reflect the needs of a rugby stadium fit for the future and the unique sensitivities of a World Heritage setting. While the Recreation Ground sits at the heart of a historic city, Bath Rugby itself is also part of Bath’s heritage. This project strikes the right balance between preserving our unique world heritage status and investing in a modern stadium that can support professional rugby for generations to come. Of course it is important to listen to all sides impacted by the new stadium development, but today is a day of celebration and a proud moment for Bath.”
Whether those ‘impacted by the new stadium development’ will be listened to remains to be seen since the Friends of the Recreation Ground questioned how much the club will pay for the lease they’ve applied for from the charity Bath Recreation Limited – who look after the Rec. Their objectives are laid out in detail and stating there should be no undue preference or favour to any particular sport or club and should remain an open space. this say the Friends flies in the face of those objectives.
Phillip Faulkner Corbett from Friends of Bath Recreation Gound said: “Bath has a unique setting that along with its buildings, is the lifeblood of the cities heritage, instead today we heard from the members of B&NES planning committee; who voted 9 to 1 to approve the stadium; that rugby is the beating heart of Bath. This shameful attitude means this UNESCO world heritage site will be lost to the demands of a privately owned stadium.”
The Green Party’s Joanna Wright, B&NES Councillor said: “With this decision the council has given financial preference to a foreign owned business over the environmental, commercial and heritage interests Bath as a whole. Their job is to stand up for Bath and its residents over generations and not let it be exploited by an offshore business.”
She questioned the leader of the Council thus: “The Recreation Ground site was conveyed to the Mayor, Aldermen and citizens of Bath in 1956 with strict covenants attached to preserving it as a green space for the community to enjoy for recreation. The terms of the Conveyance state it is not just for one particular sport, and certainly not professional sport. The Recreation Ground was a publicly-owned site with a clear mandate to be a green space for all amateur sporting activities. This agreement was signed under seal and it would appear that the only way to repeal it after many decades would be through Parliament. The Council has never asked for this agreement to be repealed. Various Trusts and Ltd Companies have been set up to manage the site since the 2002 High Court decision. Further B&NES Council issued a lease to Bath Rugby to host professional rugby at the Recreation Ground. This appears to be in direct opposition to the 1956 agreement, because that agreement stated that the use would not favour any particular sport, club or body and would only be for amateur sport.
Please can you provide the legal advice to show that the Agreement signed under seal has been repealed?”
Cllr Kevin Guy replied: “The statements upon which your questions are based are incorrect. The 1956 Conveyance did not impose a covenant preserving the Recreation Ground (RG) as a green space for the community to enjoy for recreation. The High Court Judgement in 2002 confirmed that the proposed sale agreement which had contained such a covenant did not make it into the final conveyance but that instead its wording should be tagged onto the wording of the trusts (see para 11. https://www.bailii.org/cgi- bin/format.cgi?doc=/ew/cases/EWHC Ch/2002/1623.html&query=(.2002.)+AND+(EWHC)+AND+(1623)+AND+((Ch)). Although the 1922 covenants are referred to in the 1956 conveyance the Court of Appeal judgement https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2021/1927.html confirmed that the benefit of the covenants did not annex to adjoining land and that there were no beneficiaries that could enforce the benefit
of the 1922 covenants. The supreme court subsequently refused permission to appeal. It is for the Charitable Trustee(s) for the Trust to comply with the terms of the trust as set out in its objects and act in compliance with any scheme of arrangement for the management of the charitable Trust.
“The scheme of arrangement has been amended over time, but past scheme arrangements have permitted the Lease of part of the trust land to Bath Rugby Ltd for the purpose of a stadium. The Council is no longer a trustee or landowner of the Recreation Ground. Any responsibilities it had in either capacity were transferred when the Trust transferred to an independent body. That independent body subsequently incorporated as Bath Recreation Limited and the land transferred to the Official Custodian of Charities for the benefit of the Trust. Consequently, the Council has never had any need to seek any legal advice on repeal as referred to by you.”
Councillor Kevin Guy said: “I’m pleased the Secretary of State has swiftly confirmed that the B&NES Planning Committee decision will not be called in. This is a huge step towards creating a world class venue for Bath Rugby; an aspiration they and the legions of loyal fans have held for a long time finally coming to fruition. This has the potential to bring economic and community benefits to the whole of B&NES and beyond. I’m also pleased that the Planning Committee decision included conditions to limit the impact on local residents.”
The issue of the stadium has been highly divisive with passions running deep on both sides with little room for a compromise design. From the view of Bath Rugby and their supporters the chance to redevelop the ground is possibly a once in a generation chance with someone in Bruce Craig and Bath Rugby Limited who have the millions required to transform the ground and give the club a venue fit for their position at the top of the rugby union pyramid. It will cost north of £30 million to build with the hope the 18,000 capacity, the hospitality offerings, shop and other uses of the ground for music, theatre, festivals and other sports will pay for the costs. Cynics will point to the negative side of professional rugby – clubs such as London Irish, Wasps and Worcester have gone bust leaving huge debts, fans without a club and the local economy and authorities with a headache. Craig is reported widely to be worth over £300 million so on the face of it money isn’t a problem and he has invested many millions into Bath Rugby since he bought the club along with a hefty wage bill. With the long drawn out process of gaining planning approval for the stadium over nobody will deny it is now the hard work to make it a reality begins.
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