Major work to expand Nottingham Forest's City Ground stadium will not start this summer - but club bosses insist they are still committed to the project. One of the major aspects of the plan is to demolish the Peter Taylor Stand and replace it with a new structure, increasing the capacity of the stadium by 5,000 seats, to 35,000.
The club has denied rumours the plans were set to be ditched, but it is understood the latest statement means work is now on hold until at least 2024. Forest said it is currently working through specific conditions that involve "complex discussions and negotiations" after planning permission was granted by Rushcliffe Borough Council (RBC) last year.
"The club’s objective is to secure final permission once the necessary conditions have been satisfied," a club spokesperson said in a statement. "Any suggestion that this is not the case or that the club is seeking to abort the process is 100 percent false."
Have you experienced problems with potholes on Nottinghamshire roads? Let us know in our poll here.
Part of the conditions to be negotiated is the demolition and relocation of boathouses by the River Trent, one of which is the former Britannia Rowing Club building, owned by Nottingham Rowing Club. Its bar steward, Andy Townsend, said the club was unable to invest until the terms are decided.
"We store a lot of boats in there so they've got to provide us somewhere to provide our boats," he said. "Everyone's waiting on what they're going to do.
"We're in a situation where we can't invest in the club until we know what Forest are going to do. We want it to go ahead and get it done."
The redevelopment would increase the Peter Taylor Stand capacity from 5,000 to 10,000, resulting in a total capacity of 35,000. The club, which boasts an impressive home record in the Premier League this season, would be left with three operational stands during construction work.
Nottingham Forest continued: "The [planning] resolution contained a number of specific conditions which need to be satisfied before final permission is obtained, which will enable work to commence. The club is currently working through those conditions with its adviser and the numerous third parties involved.
"These conditions involve complex discussions and negotiations, many of which are necessarily conducted on a without prejudice basis. In the circumstances, the club is not in a position to comment on them and will not do so. The process of satisfying the conditions necessarily takes time."
RBC's leader, Simon Robinson, said the 'ball is in Forest's court', adding: "The whole timescale is with Forest, so as an authority we've given them permission but we require conditional planning. So they need to submit various legal documents, it's really up to them now.
"The ball's in their court, they have conditional planning permission and we're awaiting for them what the time scale is. They've got to demolish the boathouses by the Trent so we need detailed plans about how they're going to do this. It's very much now with Forest."
Mick Garton, managing director of MSR Newsgroup, which runs a shop near the stadium, said the redevelopment would be great for business. "It will be a positive when it's done. It makes a difference being in the Premier League," he said.
"When it's eventually done it would be great, it will be nice to have the benefit of having the builders there and then the extra capacity of fans coming. I'm really positive about it. It's fantastic on match days, the shop's been really busy. It's also been good for the shops in town as we find a lot of Premier League club supporters will come and make a weekend of it."
READ NEXT:
