WORCESTER City’s plans for a new stadium at Nunnery Way have been criticised heavily by council planners.

In a letter obtained by the Worcester News, the club’s business plan is questioned along with the viability of the enabling development and capacity of the ground.

Senior planning officer Alan Coleman wrote to Robert Barnes, the planning agent for St Modwen, with his comments following a financial review by auditors KPMG of the planning application for a stadium, offices, car showrooms, hotel and a pub.

His letter stated the existing proposal is not viable and that scaling down to a ground not meeting Football League standards is unacceptable.

The club unveiled proposals for a smaller £2 million stadium earlier this week but this is not the subject of the letter or the exisiting planning application.

Coleman said the Blue Square South club’s predicted levels of income are ‘over-ambitious’ and it is unclear how the profit from an enabling development would be used to fund future parts of the stadium.

He also criticised the club’s plans to pay a percentage of whatever cash they receive for selling St George’s Lane to repay loans from bankers RBS, instead of ploughing all the money into a new stadium.

Crucially, the letter insisted the ground has to be the main use for the St Modwen-owned 20-acre site and fit in with the green network, as outlined in the Local Plan.

Coleman also slated the application for not detailing how the overall development will secure the future of sporting facilities for the community if the club go out of business.

It is even suggested the club look at alternative sites within the South Worcestershire Joint Core Strategy, such as a proposed community sports hub at Hindlip.

The letter reads: “At current position the proposal would appear to be wholly unacceptable in respect of detail and viability.

“It is clear the club is in financial straits and the relocation to Nunnery Way would not resolve this. Consequently, there is a city council objection to down-grading the facilities to below Football League status.”

It added: “It is clear the proposed enabling development is on a par with the scheme opposed by the inspector at the Local Plan inquiry in terms of area covered and floorspace created.”

City vice-chairman Jim Panter said: “We are aware of the contents of the letter and it’s a matter between St Modwen and the city council.”

St Modwen were unavailable for comment.