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Loading ...Portsmouth Football Club today moved to insist that their new stadium development is still on schedule for a 2011 completion date despite the very real likelihood of a lengthy public inquiry. The key problem for the club is that the credit crunch has forced the inclusion of commercial outlets to make the project viable. Portsmouth City Council are concerned that these additions could damage the rest of the city financially. The new stadium is set to replace the now dated Fratton Park ground.
Images: The original plan for the new Portsmouth stadium, the current ground Fratton Park
Some quotes from local paper The News follow, the link to the article is below.
Portsmouth chief executive Peter Storrie told The News: “We have obviously changed plans. The credit crunch has created that.
“At the moment we are in discussions with the city council about the fact that we have to have retail on the site.
“Without that it’s just simply not going to happen. We need the council to get behind us and support us on this.”
He added: “They (council) are not being unhelpful, but it’s a change in policy for them and they need to understand fully the economic reasons why we have to have retail.”
Leader of Portsmouth City Council Gerald Vernon-Jackson explains that they want the same thing as the club but ultimately the decision may be taken out of the council’s hands.
He said: “Ministers will be unhappy about out-of-town shopping because of the effect on city centres. It will be a public inquiry and ministers will make the decision.
“We all want a new stadium, that is why we are working as closely as possible with the football club. We all want the same thing.”
Source & Full Article: SkySports.com
See also:
Fratton Park on sportingsights.com
Portsmouth FC official website
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