The Liverpool city council announced on Tuesday that Liverpool has "been granted planning permission for phase one of the expansion" of Anfield stadium, according to Michael Hann of REUTERS. Phase one of the project "will see the Main Stand expanded with a further 8,500 seats," taking the capacity of Liverpool's stadium to 54,000. A motion to defer the planning permission decision because of concerns over transport infrastructure for the extra fans coming to games "was voted down five to one by councillors." Liverpool CEO Ian Ayre said, "We received very positive support for our proposals during a public consultation exercise earlier this year and while we are delighted about the progress made today, there are still some steps that we need to navigate through in order to give us the certainty that we need to proceed with our expansion plans." Liverpool hopes "to complete the first phase of the development" in time for the '16-17 season (REUTERS, 9/23). In London, Jack de Menezes wrote Councillor Steve Radford "had expressed concerns over how the additional
fans would their way to and from the stadium in a safe manner, and also
expressed his displeasure with the plan on how the transport would be
developed having said they had not seen a supplementary transport
assessment" (INDEPENDENT, 9/23).
KEEPING WITH TRADITION: In Liverpool, Marc Waddington wrote spokespeople for Liverpool said that they believe their plans reflect its owners' desire to keep a traditional "four stand configuration" and that the main stand will become one of the biggest in the country. Architect Peter Swift told the committee, "This is as much about grounding the stadium in the community as it is making it work on match days" (LIVERPOOL ECHO, 9/23). In London, Andy Hunter reported construction company Carillion "has been appointed to rebuild the 21,000-capacity main stand by Liverpool and the club has hired Tom Doyle, the former project manager on the London 2012 Olympics plus the SSE Hydro Arena in Glasgow, to oversee the development." Speaking on behalf of Liverpool at the planning meeting, Jeremy Fisher confirmed the middle-tier of the new three-tiered main stand would be "predominantly for hospitality" (GUARDIAN, 9/23). Also in London, Kieran Gill wrote the club "will still be able to use Anfield for matches while construction work continues for about 22 months," and Liverpool intends to add a Hillsborough Memorial as part of the scheme (DAILY MAIL, 9/23).