Northampton Saints consult public over £6 million stadium plan

The Northampton Saints rugby club will begin a public consultation today over plans for a £6-million redevelopment project.

The club wants to increase capacity at its Franklin's Gardens stadium to 15,500. It plans to replace the existing Sturtridge Pavilion, which is the oldest part of the stadium and has been standing for nearly 50years.

The club wants to build a new North Stand which would accommodate more fans.

Tony Hewitt, Vice-Chairman of the Northampton Saints told us: "We're actually selling out on the majority of our games so we need to increase it to get more people into the ground, and to accommodate the bigger games at Franklin's Gardens like the Heineken Cup quarter finals where we have to have a minimum capacity of 15,000."

The club is planning to sell one of its carparks to the supermarket chain, Asda, to fund the redevelopment project.

A public consultation will begin this evening Allan Robson, Chief Executive of the Northampton Saints, told us the club will listen to what local residents have to say. "It makes sense to listen doesn't it? Because we have to put together a planning application, and, of course, theplanning authority will be concerned with the same matters that residents or the local community will be concerned about."

The club intends to redevelop the north end of the stadium in the summer of 2014, ahead of the 2014/15 season.Members of the Northampton Saints management and the stadium design team will be holding a public meeting this evening in the Heroes Lounge at Franklin's Gardens 5.30pm - 10pm, and another on Saturday 7th July, 10am - 2pm.

Further details can be found on the Northampton Saints website: http://www.northamptonsaints.co.uk/club/stadium/development/index.php