Plans for a new 52, 888 seater stadium for Everton Football Club have been unanimously approved by Liverpool City Council’s planning committee. The vision will see the stadium being built at Bramley Moore Dock and the committee has urged the government to make a positive decision on the plans and not to cause any delays to acquire more investment and employment for the region.
The Toffee’s need a new stadium so that they can keep pace with the Premier League’s big clubs and prosper at home as well as in Europe. They have been at Goodison Park since 1892
“Farhad [Moshiri, club co-owner] and I would like to thank Denise [Barrett-Baxendale, club CEO] and Colin [Chong, stadium development director] and their dedicated team for the extraordinary hard work and commitment that has got us to today.
“We are also enormously grateful to the many organisations and tens of thousands of individuals across the city region who have given us their feedback, ideas and support along the way. It’s been a good week for Everton and Evertonians.”
That’s according to Everton chairman Bill Kenwright
In a detailed presentation, Everton’s stadium development director, Colin Chong, confirmed “funding is on track” for a development that will cost more than £500m, generate an estimated £1.3bn for the local economy and create more than 15,000 jobs.
There are several challenges that the plans still face as funding for the scheme is dependent on Robert Jenrick, secretary of state for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, giving final approval to a scheme that has received objections only from heritage bodies.
Joe Hanson, a councillor who represents the Kirkdale ward where Bramley-Moore Dock is situated, said: “The dock’s history is important to us but shouldn’t be allowed to stand in the way of progress. Historic England are talking about trying to deprive an area of good quality employment and regeneration. I find it a little bit insulting that Historic England are asking for a call-in and jeopardising what Everton are trying to do, which is create employment, an iconic stadium on the waterfront and bring life back into the dock area.”
It is believed that the new stadium will help build stronger transport links with in the city as the site is only half an hours walk from the city centre and a shuttle bus service will also be created from Bramley-Moore dock to Sefton both pre and post-match, allowing supporters from the north of Liverpool another mode of transport to access the ground easily.
Bus services will also run from the city centre, with timetables expected to change in the coming months and years as companies spot the commercial benefits of travelling to what will be a major landmark in Liverpool.
There are many implications that this proposed new ground could have on people living in the local community. One of the major problems people are worried about is if football fans will use parking facilities at Waterloo Warehouse for free parking on match days. Problems like this have been seen before but not on this large a scale. Enhanced security will be needed to protect people’s property as if some football fans use the Warehouse car park for free parking, there is likely to be an increased level of crime in the area from rowdy football fans who may have been drinking on match days.
To help cope with the possible extra crime levels that will come from football fans parking at the warehouse, more security will have to be hired in order to protect people’s property and ensure calm can be restored in case there is any trouble. This will lead to extra charges being put on residents as this will be a need for all people to have security to protect their belongings.
The price of property in the area is likely to go up due to the increased transport links that the new stadium will bring as visiting fans will have to travel from different areas of the country in order to attend matches. This will help bring more funding and revenue in to the region as when more people visit the area, more goods and services are likely to be bought from businesses in the area to help the local economy. At a time when businesses are suffering due to the different periods of lock down because of the Covid 19 pandemic, a chance to bring more money in to the region can only help the local community survive.
Part of Everton’s plan involved transforming Goodison Park with a multi-purpose redevelopment plan, which includes new housing, a multi-purpose health centre, community-led retail and leisure spaces, and a youth enterprise zone.
