Cheltenham Borough Council are still open to exploring a land-swap with Cheltenham Town Football Club over abandoned land at Cakebridge Place.

But council leader Councillor Steve Jordan has admitted that the Robins aren't the only local entity that would now be involved with the project.

Speaking exclusively to Punchline, Cllr Jordan explained that any future development plans would be opened out to and discussed with other council tenants who have leases on surrounding land.

That would include the Parklands Community Association who are currently at odds with the Football Club over access to the stadium from their premises on Wymans Road.

Parklands have issued the Club with a demand for nearly £200,000 as part of an agreement they struck with the club when the all-seater Wymans Road Stand was built in 2001.

Their claim for three per cent of all ticket revenues for that stand as well as a fixed annual sum for the disposal of water from the stand.

According to Gloucestershire Live, Parklands have claimed that the payments stopped in 2007 and had yet to restart, leading to a bill - which the Football Club disputes - of £196,000.

When they issued the claim, Parklands threatened to block access to the stand for next weekend's crunch Gloucestershire derby clash with Forest Green Rovers - a threat that has now been carried out.

That means that capacity has to be reduced in the 2,000 seat stand, with the club confirming that due to the closure of the Parklands turnstiles, supporter numbers will be limited to 1,200.

While the two parties strive to reach an accord over the sums owed, they could also soon be around the same table looking at the regeneration of the wider area around their two sites.

The Football Club first mooted the idea of swapping a portion of their Whaddon Road stadium's car park for the Cakebridge Place plot of land as far back as 2012.

Cakebridge Place would allow for improved access to the stadium and, crucially, open up the site for a wider redevelopment of the 1960s-built main stand.

A new stand would allow for increased capacity and comfort levels for supporters and also offer space for revenue-generating and - perhaps crucially - community benefit facilities.

As the council owns both Cakebridge Place and the Victory Ground - the official name of what is currently known as the Jonny-Rocks Stadium - the idea was always seen as positive for both entities.

And while that would have remained the case with just the Football Club on board, Cllr Jordan said the chance to open it up to other entities and look at a broader scheme was the right thing to do.

He said: "The council's original plan was, as owner of Cakebridge Place, to redevelop it ourselves but then we had an initial conversation with the Football Club.

"They were keen to use part of that site themselves and put forward the idea of swapping the land for part of their existing car park.

"The council owns the Football Club site, but also the bowls club, most of the Parklands site, as well as a lot of other land around there, so we should take a wider look at what can be done."

Originally the site of the Berkeley Hunt kennels before the Robins moved in during the 1930s, the ground was sold to the council by the Cheltenham Original Brewery Company.

The bowls club sits on the same original plot that is believed to have a sporting use covenant placed on it as part of the conditions of the original sale.

All the sites sit on what would otherwise be prime development land that could be used to address the acute need for housing in the town.

Cllr Jordan said that for any scheme to be given the go-ahead on the Cakebridge Place site, a wider, more holistic view must be taken involving all the nearby stakeholders.

He said: "We are now arranging a meeting with all the stakeholders to come together sometime in the near future.

"Parklands have some ideas about what they want to do, although they only own a small part of their site and we own the rest.

"But there is a conversation that we can all have about looking at something that could and would work for everyone, rather than just go ahead on the smaller land-swap.

"The more people that are involved in the conversation, the more complicated it will get but we think it's important that everyone gets their say.

"We want to look at a scheme for the collective benefit for everyone and this is an opportunity to have that bigger conversation involving everyone."

Cheltenham Town currently have a long-term lease on the stadium site agreed in the late 1990s when the club was first pushing for promotion to the Football League.

The club have transformed three-quarters of their home for more than 80 years in the last 20 years, building two new all-seater stands and renovating most of the terraced areas.

A new main stand is seen as the final piece of the redevelopment jigsaw and would almost certainly include an 'enabling project' to help fund the build and aid with long-term revenue generation.

A medical centre, office space, student accommodation or a mixture of all three, built within the structure of the football stand, have all been suggested as past uses.

The opening out on to Cakebridge Place would allow for improved vehicle access and broaden the site at a pinch point close to the corner of the existing stadium buildings.