Everton close to green light on new stadium
After two decades of false starts, Everton’s dream of relocating to a modern stadium has overcome another significant hurdle.
The club expect to be given the green light to build their £500million dockside arena at a meeting of Liverpool city planners next week.
A positive outcome appears to be a formality after a planning report recommended that permission be granted for the 52,888-capacity stadium at Bramley-moore Dock, potentially enabling construction to begin by the spring or summer.
Although the final go-ahead must still be given by local politicians and then Robert Jenrick, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, the objections have not proven serious enough to force further delays.
The favourable report concludes years of consultation and negotiations discussing how Everton could feasibly and affordably move from Goodison Park – part of a stadium saga which extends far beyond the plans of owner Farhad Moshiri.
Since the late 1990s, Everton’s search for a new home has been scuppered largely by financial and logistical problems, although occasionally heading down self-constructed cul-de-sacs with ill-advised schemes, such as the planned move to Kirkby 10 years ago.
Moshiri made resolving the stadium issue a priority shortly after his purchase of Everton in 2015, the club suggesting as many as 52 potential sites were under consideration prior to focusing on the north Liverpool dock – a largely derelict area in need of regeneration.
Despite the poor condition of the site and overwhelming public support, Everton still had to fight concerns about the broader impact of a modern stadium on the appearance of Liverpool’s docks.
Once permission is granted, Everton will push ahead with their timetable, hoping construction will be completed in time for the start of the 2024-25 season.