COUNCILLORS are set to decide whether Bath Rugby can keep its East Stand up throughout the summer — or whether it should be taken down for what could be the last summer of an open Recreation Ground.

Under the current rules for Bath Rugby’s temporary stands, the club must take down the East Stand outside of the rugby season so the Recreation Ground can be an open space for about three months of the year.

The million-pound-a-year cost of removing and replacing the stand each year is one key reason the club is planning to build a permanent 18,000-seat stadium on the site, which they hope to start work on next year if it is granted planning permission.

But in the meantime, the club has applied to Bath and North East Somerset (B&NES) Council to keep the East Stand up throughout this summer — the last year for which planning permission for the temporary stands lasts. But locals have said they want the “ugly” stand down for the summer.

A planning application to remove the requirement to take it down each year is set to go before B&NES Council’s planning committee on Wednesday, June 5.

A letter submitted with the planning application by Bath Rugby’s planning agents, Turley, said: “In our view, it is difficult to see how a development that is considered acceptable on planning grounds for 39 weeks of the year (as the current temporary East Stand is), would not also be acceptable for 52 weeks of the year.”

It added that the rest of the space remained playing fields for use by other sports and added that Somerset County Cricket Club have not used the Recreation Ground for over ten years. The agent added: “This open land area is therefore not usable by the public as the grass regrows as it is fenced off – only again to be covered by the reinstated East Stand a few weeks later.”

Planning officers at Bath and North East Somerset Council have recommended the planning permission to be granted, but the decision has been called in to the council’s planning committee by councillor Toby Simon (Bathwick, Liberal Democrat) so it can be made in public due to the level of public interest.

A total of 52 people have submitted objections to the plans, with just four people lodging messages of support.