GETTING plans for Southend United’s new home “absolutely right” are behind the delays in the proposal coming before the council, it has been revealed.

Deputy council leader James Courtenay told of his support for the club’s move as he spoke out about delays in bringing an application for the stadium on Fossetts Farm, off Eastern Avenue, before the development control committee.

The plans were submitted in spring 2017 and have, for almost two years, been under scrutiny from various bodies and planning officers ahead of being presented to the committee for approval.

The plans include new homes and a retail centre, which Mr Courtenay has said is a third of the size of Lakeside - though this is disputed by club chairman Ron Martin. Mr Courtenay says the potential impact on the town has meant far greater scrutiny of the ambitious plans has been necessary.

He said: “It is taking longer than normal planning applications but this isn’t an ordinary application.

Echo:

“We are talking about a retail area a third of the size of Lakeside, a 21,000-seater stadium and 800 new homes.

“It could go before development control for a decision, but the applicant wants it to go through with everything recommended for approval. If things aren’t set up right it could recommended for refusal. The applicant wants to get everything right and he’s worked with the council on that.”

Mr Courtenay added: “One of our roles is to work out as a council whether we want to support an application. We get more of a say in this because we own some of the land.

“I am very pro a new football stadium for Southend United. It’s been a long time coming and the club deserves it, but it’s not just the stadium. We have to look at the homes and the retail element along with the stadium as a whole.

“We have to look at the impact on the rest of the town like what impact would it have on other shopping centres? What impact would the new homes have on roads, doctor’s surgeries, schools and traffic? “As part of that process we might ask for example about the impact on our roads on a busy match day. The applicant would then go away and address that and see how that issue can be mitigated and then come back to us but that takes time. People assume the delay is because of the council but often we are waiting for an applicant to come back.

“There are some significant challenges but they are surmountable and I know both the council and the applicant both want to go forward as quickly as possible.”

Football fans have backed the new stadium with more than 5,000 people recently signing a letter of support.

Chairman: "We're getting close"

Southend United chairman Ron Martin says scrutiny of plans for a new stadium is close to completion.

Disputing James Courtenay’s estimate of the size of the retail element as “one third the size of Lakeside” Mr Martin said it was in fact 20 per cent the size of the centre

He added: “The application is significant and necessarily so to ensure that the club, when it moves, has a debt free stadium providing a platform for its longevity. 

“The proposed enabling retail development adjacent to the stadium has been very carefully planned to compliment the High Street, attracting many retailers who are not necessarily represented in Southend. 

“I am sure this is not meant to be an exaggeration, but to put the record straight the club’s enabling retail is a little over a half of what James may have thought.

"Nevertheless we still hope the design and environment we wish to create, both in and around the stadium, on matchdays and non-matchdays will help keep people shopping in our town and not tripping down the A13.”

Mr Martin added: “The council has over an extended period requested the club to carry out further work, which we have been happy to do, in order to assess the implications and appropriate mitigation. The club has co-operated fully in carrying out that work and provision of further reports. 

“I believe that we are close to exhausting that additional input enabling the council to soon confirm a date for bringing the club’s planning application to committee and hopefully with a positive recommendation. If the council does approve the application, work will be able to start on site very quickly.”