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Council: Let's sort out Liverpool FC stadium mess
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A SPEEDY end to Liverpool FC’s stadium saga is required to kickstart a much-needed regeneration scheme.
That was the message from community leaders today as the debate about the club’s future plans continued.
Yesterday, the ECHO revealed how Walton MP Peter Kilfoyle wrote to sports minister Andy Burnham, asking him to intervene in the bitter ownership battle at Anfield.
He spoke of his fears about how squabbles between Liverpool’s American co-owners were affecting the area’s multi-million pound regeneration scheme.
Today, politicians and residents said they needed the Reds to forge ahead with the plan to build a new 60,000-seater stadium as soon as possible.
Liverpool council gave the club’s second ground proposal the go-ahead late last year.
But planners are now considering major changes to the application after it was redesigned for a third time to cut costs.
Council leader Warren Bradley said: “We want to see the new stadium on site and we need a definite decision from the club. We cannot carry on like this.
John Dillon, chairman of Anfield’s Pinehurst estate tenants and residents association (Petra), said: “It has just dragged on for too long.
“The regeneration of the area is the most important thing for us, but it seems to be held up by what is happening at the club. The plans for the ground are very good – the stadium itself and the bits around it are excellent.
We are just waiting for the day it starts.”
Planning officers recommend approval if Liverpool FC agreed to meet certain conditions.
The club has been asked to ensure spectators leaving their cars in the stadium’s 970 parking spaces arrive an hour before kick-off and wait an hour after the final whistle to leave.
The club must also pay for a yearly review of the residents-only parking zone around Anfield for five years after the ground opens – and fund any expansion of it.
Several groups have objected, including Priory Area Residents Association (Para), Friends of Stanley Park and Stanley Park Preservation Society.
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