LABOUR’S loss of overall control on City of York Council could yet have “significant and serious consequences” for York’s long-awaited community stadium, the chairman of York City Football Club, Jason McGill, has warned.

Mr McGill said Labour’s commitment to providing a further £4 million to the project so Waterworld can be replaced by a new pool could be under threat.

“A vote against the £4 million by the other political parties will cause the whole stadium and leisure project... to be in doubt,” he said.

This is precisely the scenario we ourselves warned about when it became clear that Labour had lost overall control of the council.

Then, we urged politicians of all parties to work together to ensure key – and long-overdue – projects such as the community stadium and the local plan were not delayed.

We urge that again today. Ian Cuthbertson, one of three Liberal Democrat councillors who called in the stadium project for scrutiny, said his group fully supported the community stadium project in principle. But he added the Lib Dems were yet to see a full business case.

We understand the importance of ensuring the business case for the stadium stacks up. What we don’t want is for petty political squabbling to get in the way at this late stage.

Mr McGill has called for City supporters to pack a full council meeting on October 9 to urge councillors to get on with it.

We will be with them all the way.