Rushcliffe Borough Council make a huge decision on Nottingham Forest’s stunning City Ground redevelopment plans as previously proposed.
The Planning Committee met on Thursday the 28th of July to consider an application from the newly promoted club on its plans for amendments to The City Ground and associated residential development.
The public meeting was streamed live on the Council’s YouTube channel at with the application the only item of business to be discussed and lasted around two hours concluding with a vote.
You can watch this play out by clicking on the video below…
The following points were raised in the discussion, parking, parking permits, affordable housing, travel, car parking, the boathouse, new bridge, noise mitigation, community use, transport, benefits, planning application, ambition, outdated stand, club shop, proposed changes… and that was just the first half of the meeting.
After their ‘comfort break’, they also talked about the direction of sunlight, asked if £700k contribution can be paid by the club towards schooling costs with members asked to consider huge economic gains for the local area, spoke about Forest’s monetary contribution now with Cllr Thomas voting against accusing Forest of ‘keeping a third of the cake’. Wants the extra £270,000 to go towards schools, parking etc. It was pointed out a decision had to be made on the application as it is. Or seek to refer, and have further discussions. A request to defer was put forward before the vote.
FINAL DECISION:
Those in favour – 9
2 against
PERMISSION GRANTED!!
Our Planning Committee has today approved Nottingham Forest’s plans for The City Ground. Leader Cllr Simon Robinson said: “All parties have shown commitment to get the application through and do the very best for the club, the supporters and Rushcliffe itself.”
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CLUB STATEMENT:
Nottingham Forest Football Club is delighted at today’s decision of the Rushcliffe Borough Council Planning Committee to uphold the recommendation of its Planning Officers that the Club’s application for planning permission to redevelop the Main Stand on the City Ground site should be approved.
Today’s decision represents a significant landmark in the journey to redevelop the historic City Ground site and represents the culmination of 3 years of dedicated work by the Club and its advisers.
We believe that the development of the site is crucial to maintaining the club’s status in the Premier League and all of the benefits to the local community and economy which this status brings.
The development will also represent the physical manifestation of the desire of the Club’s owner Mr Marinakis to leave a historic legacy at the football Club.
The decision now opens the door to the Club to have detailed discussions with its advisers and partners on how and when the development will be delivered.
These discussions will be undertaken as soon as practicable and the club remains determined to provide the wonderful supporters of the Club with a stadium of which they can be truly proud in the modern era.
– STATEMENT ENDS –
As Forest prepare for their first season in the Premier League for almost a quarter of a century, their timeframe has been revealed for a new 10,000-seat stand to be in use before the end of the 2023-24 season.
Forest had been intending to get rid of their oldest stand — named after Peter Taylor, Brian Clough’s former assistant from the club’s European Cup-winning days — and replace it with a modern structure inside a year.
Prior to the decision made on Thursday the 28th of July, the council recommended the plans to be approved, despite objections from some of its own members and two residents’ associations.
However, the scheme will be costly for the club in a number of ways than just simply knocking down one stand and putting up a replacement.
As part of the planning conditions, Forest have agreed to pay more than £1m towards improving local bus services, £200,000 to cycle access improvements and £150,000 towards highways work near the stadium.
Forest had also seeking permission for a 13-storey block of apartments, incorporating 170 properties, and will sell these to help finance the new stand. However, the influx of so many new people means various other conditions. One is paying £326,421 towards schooling costs.
The estimated cost of modernisation of the ground, increasing the capacity by around 5,000, would benefit the city to the tune of £802million by 2032.
The City Ground hasn’t undergone any major work since 1994 and were hopeful that building work would commence at the end of the 2019/20 season. The pandemic and some decision making delayed that.
🔴 @NFFC have revealed plans to expand the City Ground.
💺 Stadium capacity will increase to 38,000…
🏟 …including knocking down the Peter Taylor Stand & building a new 10,000-seater instead.
🗣 Owner Evangelos Marinakis: “This is our home and we will remain here forever”. pic.twitter.com/QawKFpA6ik
— SPORF (@Sporf) March 1, 2019
Tom Cartledge, lead architect and CEO of Benoy – the architecture firm behind the multi-million pound project – said when first announcing the plans: “Personally it’s been incredibly frustrating because I’ve not been able to tell many people.
“I have been surrounded by Forest fans in the stand, and at home and in the pub! They’ve been desperate to know!
“On a project like this there’s a huge amount of things that you have to bring together.
“We’ve done a lot of consultation work, both within the club – working with the players and the management to understand what world-class facilities look like for them on matchdays, in terms of changing rooms and other facilities.
“But then also working with the corporate team here to really understand what the opportunities are for a diverse mix of premium seating.
“And then you’re also really looking at the stadium and the stand itself, in terms of its design and how it’s in keeping with the other stands and respecting the local community and the neighbourhood – as well as the challenges around integrating what is a large building into an urban area.
“There has been a huge amount of work and the work doesn’t stop now.”
Evangelos Marinakis also said a few years ago: “We have made steady progress since our arrival and you, the fans, have been central to this. The record season-card figures and the record average attendances illustrate your passion and backing to our team and our vision.
“From the very beginning our strategy has been not to make promises but to deliver. We were clear when we said we wanted our actions to speak louder than our words. After more than a year of consultation, we are now delighted to be able to present you our vision for The New City Ground.
“I would like to thank Councillors Jon Collins and Simon Robinson and all the representatives of both the City and Rushcliffe Borough councils for their co-operation and engagement in this project.
“The City Ground has iconic history and memories for our supporters and these legacies were fundamental in our decision us to remain on the banks of the River Trent and not relocating to an alternative site. This is our home and we will remain here forever.
“We want our supporters to play an important role in the decision-making of the club. Our intention is to now consult with our supporters and the wider Nottingham public to gain your views before making a formal planning application. I encourage you all to participate.
“This investment is about our club and the city of Nottingham and we are all committed together to deliver a place that we will all feel proud of, The New City Ground, our home forever.”
Fans reacted as the council make a huge decision on Nottingham Forest’s City Ground redevelopment plans…
@jakecartledge: Japanese knotweed 🐐
@5tu_nffc: This #nffc stadium development thing could be been sorted a lot sooner if they’d have thought to set fire to the offices 2 years ago … seems to have worked 😃
@RedDogCam: Wonderful news for the community, businesses, football club and stakeholders.
@footuckyy: OHHH CITYYY GROUNDDDDDD 🎵
@hyperkoi01: Some councillors showed themselves up today. They need to read the YouTube comments.
@msheehan222: Some proper dicks in that meeting
@liamevansnffc: Eat all the bitter cake you want you 2 angry cake ladies 🔴⚪️🤣🤣🤣 Forest are pissing the approval committee off now aswell has talksport, the media and other fans…. love it
@PaulButtery2: Now that’s been approved I’m so happy to be staying where we are as it’s an iconic location. Win win for the bars and eateries etc around the ground. It’s part of our match day experience #nffc
@NFFC_Woodz: Make sure you purchase some cake for those two in objection
@GriffNFFC: After hours of talking about Parking Permits, Japanese Knotweed, Coronation Street and the boat club, we now have been granted permission thank fuck for that 😂 #NFFC
@DaveHo1mes: It’s not just 5,000 extra seats it’s new facilities, extra corporate spaces, event hosting, potential for safe standing and better disabled access. The other stands can be improved on and the capacity increased but the Main Stand needed to be knocked down and started again #NFFC
@Richwhitty63: We are massive…. Now get the fucking stand built #nffc
@nffcry: The 2 councillors rejecting the application because they wanted Forest to pay an extra £270,000 for something that is the councils responsibility. Pathetic. Least it is approved!! #nffc
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