Everton FC submit stadium plans for approval

Jan 2 2008

EVERTON FC today presented their plans for a Kirkby stadium to Knowsley council.

The club and supermarket giant Tesco formally submitted their £400m proposal to build a new home for the Blues and a shopping district south of the existing town centre.

Town hall planners will now start scrutinising the Destination Kirkby scheme before councillors decide whether to approve it – possibly as soon as the spring.

Tesco, which would bring in developer Barr to build the stadium and shops, would then want to start work later this year.

The proposal focuses on a 50,000-seater replacement for Goodison Park, a 24-hour Tesco Extra store and about 50 high street shops south of Cherryfield Drive.

It also includes “development opportunities” for the existing town centre, including an unnamed leisure scheme and a six-figure investment in Kirkby market.

Significantly, the scheme features about £10m of road improvements and work designed to reduce the impact of the huge development on surrounding areas.

The possible negative effect of Everton moving to Kirkby on traffic and anti-social behaviour have been the main point raised by residents and Knowsley North Labour MP George Howarth so far.

The club and Tesco will hope the details contained in the planning application will ease their concerns.

Otherwise, the prospect of the government “calling in” the scheme for closer scrutiny could raise its head, delaying work by months.

Everton chief executive Keith Wyness said: “This represents the next key stage in what has been a complex and demanding process.

“We continue to work closely with our partners, Tesco and Knowsley council, and we remain very optimistic about what is a hugely ambitious and significant project.”

Tesco’s public affairs manager Tony Fletcher said: “We have been working on the planning application for the past 10 months and believe this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create a development of truly international significance in the heart of Kirkby.

“We have consulted widely on our suggestions and received valuable feedback, not least from the people of Kirkby, who have attended exhibitions and meetings with us.

“We will now enter an extended period of consultation with the council and continue to seek feedback from residents.

“We hope that the planning committee will consider the application in the late spring and, depending the outcome and subsequent feedback from the government office of the North West, we hope to be in a position to start construction work in 2008.”

The application says exact designs for Tesco’s proposed revamp of Kirkby market would be agreed before a more detailed plan is submitted to the council.

The firm says it would hold talks with the council and market stallholders before drawing up a “modern and attractive trading environment”.

The document also includes a basic application for new commercial and leisure developments in the existing town centre, possibly including a hotel, bars, restaurant and family leisure facilities.

Although a majority of Everton season-ticket and shareholders voted in favour of the move outside the city boundaries last summer, some fans and Kirkby residents oppose the idea.