New plans approved for Forest stadium expansion

A major expansion of Nottingham Forest's stadium has been given the green light.

The club plans to increase the City Ground's capacity from 31,000 to 52,500 in two stages, at an estimated cost of £790m.

The proposals were approved by Rushcliffe Borough Council's planning committee on Wednesday.

Subject to a range of conditions, full planning permission has been granted to demolish and replace the Peter Taylor Stand and to redevelop the Trent End, which combined would take the ground's capacity to 45,000.

The club has also been granted outline planning permission to redevelop the Brian Clough Stand, which would add a further 7,500 seats.

The outline permission endorses the principle and scale of the latter, but final approval of more detailed designs will need to be given at a later date.

The plans also include a new public plaza and restaurant, as well as improved conferencing, media, and back-of-house facilities.

Forest were previously given permission to expand the ground to 35,000 seats under plans which were approved last summer , but unveiled more ambitious proposals a matter of months later which required fresh approval.

A spokesperson for the Nottingham Forest Supporters' Trust said: "On behalf of Forest supporters everywhere, we are delighted that our historic home has taken this major step to beginning its generational next chapter.

"We want to thank the club, our members, council officers and Rushcliffe Borough Planning Committee for their hard work getting us this far. It is a huge moment."

The latest plans have been backed by the city's MPs and the East Midlands mayor, Claire Ward.

"I see the expansion of the City Ground as the catalyst for what we could do across the Trent sports district," she said.

"This is a really unusual opportunity to have so many top flight sports so close to each other, whether that's the two football clubs, cricket, water sports, ice hockey, tennis, we've got so much going on in the city and I want this to be the starting point for that growth."

The MP for Rushcliffe, James Naish, said he was "delighted" the plans have been approved.

"It's something local people have been talking about for many many years and now we know the destination of travel which is fantastic," he said.

"Of course as the representative of the people of Rushcliffe I also care deeply about making sure local residents can live alongside the ground in as peaceful a way as possible, and that's why a lot of the conversations so far have been about parking."

As part of the plans, the club is set to pay more than £4m towards improvements to public transport and other infrastructure to encourage walking and cycling.

This includes a £990,000 contribution to proposed parking restrictions in the surrounding area, the details of which are yet to be confirmed.

Planning conditions state demolition work cannot begin, however, until a new plan is agreed to manage crowd flow on match days, which could involve building a new pedestrian and cycle bridge over the River Trent.

Nottinghamshire County Council and Nottingham City Council - which serve as the highways authorities for the area - have rejected a proposal to permanently close two traffic lanes on Trent Bridge.

Both councils say they otherwise support the stadium development.

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