THE Welsh Rugby Union has been given the go-ahead to take over Newport Gwent Dragons and buy Rodney Parade.

The shareholders of Newport RFC gave the green light to the proposed deal at a meeting at their historic home tonight.

The agreement between the governing body and the Dragons board needed approval from 75 per cent of voters with around 81 per cent voting ‘yes’. 

There were 429 votes cast, 351 ‘yes’ and 78 ‘no’.

The meeting began at 7pm with Dragons chief executive Stuart Davies, Newport chairman Will Godfrey and WRU chief executive Martyn Phillips answering questions from the floor.

Benefactors Martyn Hazell and Tony Brown were not present.

Shareholders, with Newport hall of famers Dai Watkins, Brian ‘BJ’ Jones and Gareth Evans among those present, then voted with cards before the result was announced at around 9.15pm.

The WRU will now progress with the deal for the nine-acre site at Rodney Parade and plans for the Dragons – they have said Newport and Gwent will be dropped from the name – with a targeted completion date of July 1.

The agreed proposal is that the governing body will pay £2.85million for the ground with Newport RFC receiving a cash sum of £600,000.

The governing body have pledged to invest in the Dragons to turn around their on-field fortunes after they finished 11th in the Guinness PRO12 with just Zebre beneath them.

WRU chief executive Martyn Phillips said last week: “We’ve got to go back in, try and make it sustainable financially, work with the players, get the coaching and off-field environment spot-on. 

“We know from other clubs that it takes two or three years to get those foundations in place.”

The WRU have assured the Black and Ambers that they can play at Rodney Parade while it is home to a professional side with that right being free of rent or other fees for the first 10 years.

They will allow Newport to use the David Watkins Suite on matchdays to raise funds while the room in the Bisley Stand that is currently an education suite can be turned into a Newport museum.

The governing body have pledged to invest in the facilities at Rodney Parade, although they have been forced to rethink plans to lay an artificial surface because of Newport County’s great escape from relegation.

Phillips had expressed their preference for a 3G pitch to turn the ground into a rugby hub for the community but the Exiles, who have a long-term lease, cannot play on a plastic pitch under Football League regulations.