02 Jun 2015
Southend's £80m stadium plan could finally be realised after more than a decade of planning
BY Tom Anstey
Stadium redevelopment plans for newly-promoted League One football team Southend United are imminent, according to the seaside town’s Council leader, Ron Woodley.
After meeting with club chair, Ron Martin, to be briefed on the plans, Woodley said a new stadium could be the catalyst Southend needs to follow in the footsteps of the likes of Swansea City – a team which enjoyed a prominent rise through the English football pyramid following a stadium redevelopment.
The £80m (US$122m, €111.4m) redevelopment, tentatively known as Fossetts Farm Stadium, have been laid out by architects Populous and include a £25m (US$38m, €38m) 22,000-seat stadium, a 12-screen multiplex cinema, a hotel and retail park, and a 13-storey tower block comprised of 170 apartments. The futuristic-looking stadium will also be connected to a training ground and community sports area, which will stretch out the length of four football pitches.
“Having a new stadium will fit in with [Ron Martin’s] aspiration to be a Championship club,” said Woodley speaking to local media. “You see teams take off when they get a new stadium – look at Swansea for example.
“A new planning application will be needed as the previous permissions have lapsed and the legal side of previous ones weren’t completed, but Ron has just got a bit of tidying up bits and pieces.”
Planning permission for the ongoing project has twice lapsed previously – first in 2009 and then in 2013.
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