Swansea City Council has been awarded £130,000 in costs following an unsubstantiated lawsuit that claimed Liberty Stadium had defects due to original construction.
The 21,088-capacity venue’s operator, Swansea Stadium Management Company (SSMC), brought the case against the council, which built the £27m stadium in 2005, and the main contractor Interserve Construction LTD.
The legal action, which was issued in April 2017 and claimed that the steel structure of the stadium is suffering corrosion, was dismissed late last year after a two-week High Court hearing, after which the council said it was satisfied with the outcome and that it would claim for costs “so that the bill does not fall to the council tax payers of Swansea”.
This month’s council cabinet report highlights £130,000 of income from the stadium case.
SSMC, which is now wholly owned by Swansea City FC, claimed that the original stadium works were beginning to corrode and expose steel structural elements as a result of “paint delamination” as well as a slippery surface on the concourse and mezzanine floor.
However, these allegations were struck out because they were brought forward four days after the expiry of the limitation period.
SSMC is a venture between the two tenants of the stadium – Championship football club Swansea City and Pro14 rugby union team Ospreys – and the local council.
The organisation had led the venue under a 50-year lease, but Swansea City took control of SSMC in November last year.
Image:Christopher Elkins
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