Nottingham Forest has been given the go-ahead for a major revamp of the City Ground.
The club – recently promoted to the Premier League – has been told it can go ahead with the redevelopment after several years of trying to get permission. The green light was given at a meeting of Rushcliffe Borough Council’s planning committee on Thursday. It means the club can start work on knocking down and rebuilding the Peter Taylor stand.
Following the meeting a club spokesman said: “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 three years of dedicated work by the club and its advisers."
The Reds want to invest millions increasing stadium capacity to 38,000, and as well as rebuilding the Peter Taylor Stand, it wants to make improvements to the other three sides of the ground, with the Bridgford Stand extended, too.
There have been a number of consultations and changes to the plans since they were first submitted back in 2019. Work had been scheduled to begin in the summer of 2020, with the aim of a 15-month completion from start to finish. However, planning approval was not granted and there were issues with the proposed residential development next to the stadium.
Last year, the Reds submitted updated proposals to Rushcliffe Borough Council for a sustainable and environmentally friendly travel plan for visitors to the ground. It was hoped that would be the final piece in the jigsaw for a full and final planning submission.
Owner Evangelos Marinakis has already spent more than £2 million on the plans and has been committed to the project throughout. Completing the redevelopment is now expected to cost more than £94 million.
In March, in a statement attached to their most recent set of accounts, Forest said: “Despite progress being severely hampered during Covid, the club continued to plan for redevelopment of the Peter Taylor Stand. Further cost has been incurred working with appointed advisors to prepare a solid and persuasive case for planners to approve the scheme.
“This has been a complex process because of the cross-jurisdictional nature of the City Ground site coupled with the fact that the development is taking place in a residential area with the challenges this brings in the planning process.
“The board maintains its view that the best option for the club and its supporters was to remain at and develop the City Ground site rather than to move to an out of town venue which would have posed few planning challenges.
“The formal planning application was submitted on the 17 November 2021 and the club retains solid grounds for optimism that the local planners will approve the application in the near future.”
