THE countdown is on for councillors to scrutinise plans for a new 21,000 seater Southend United stadium, which is recommended for approval.

Details of both the Fossetts Farm stadium and the Roots Hall homes scheme will be discussed at a special development control committee meeting on Monday.

As well as the state-of-the-art stadium, there will be a 107-bedroom hotel along with a club shop, a restaurant and conference space.

Two corners of the stadium will accommodate 182 apartments. In addition, a range of other blocks up to nine storeys high will provide a total of 1,114 homes. Southend Council will also be involved in providing homes on the site for affordable rents.

The hybrid application for the phased development and relocation of the club, which is currently housed at roots hall, includes demolishing the old club and replacing it with nine blocks from two to eight storeys high to provide 502 homes.

The scheme has taken years to get to this point, with plans first submitted to the council four years ago.

For fans, the decision can’t come soon enough. Season ticket holder James Schooley, 32, has been a fan since 1996.

He said: “On the face of it the plans look very good, hugely ambitious. I know that Ron Martin has had to perform financial somersaults to get funding in place.

“The club needs modern facilities to attract the next generation of fans. I would like more information on how the club will benefit from this. We’ve had loose reference to commercial income which is great but the club has been through the mill.”

Talks to modify the plans to remove a cinema and retail elements from the scheme to protect Southend High Street allowed negotiations with planners to proceed after initially stalling.

Both schemes are recommended to be delegated for approval by the council’s director of planning.

The Secretary of State must approve the stadium plans for the scheme to go ahead. If this fails to happen before January 31, the scheme will be refused.

The plans will be discussed at Southend’s Civic Centre in Victoria Avenue. The building’s foyer will be opened for an expected influx of fans and security is likely to be stepped up following Friday’s fatal attack on Sir David Amess, MP for Southend West.