Plans for Forest Green Rovers new eco-friendly wooden football stadium given the green light
Plans for a new environmentally-friendly football stadium built from timber have been given the go-ahead.
Forest Green Rovers plans to build the new 5,000-seat stadium near junction 13 of the M5.
Their current home, The New Lawn, will be demolished to make way for 95 new homes.
Stroud District Council has approved the new stadium plans which were submitted by Dale Vince’s Ecotricity Group Limited.
Mr Vince said: "The studies that we did for the entire concept of Eco Park, which is a 4,000 job green tech business park and the stadium and some other things will have a 20% biodiversity boost compared to today's farming background level.
"Most people think when you're building something, you're harming nature, but it doesn't have to be that way and we will prove that when we build this. And in our studies we've proven on the desktop and we'll prove it in the real world when we get the chance."
Dale Vince speaks to ITV News about the plans
The developer says its plans will have a "distinct appearance" due to the stadium’s roofscape.
Its aim is to retain the site’s rural setting and attributes while integrating the new stadium for Forest Green Rovers as a focal point for the club and wider community.
The developer says the stadium has been designed with climate change in mind and integrates energy efficiency measures with resilience against extreme weather conditions such as flooding or heatwaves.
Mr Vince added: "We've been clear for probably 10 years, our goal is to get to the Championship. So the new stadium is a part of that.
"If you look at our current situation, we're constrained in terms of access, parking, power and water. On matchdays we have problems with all of those things and the new place is super accessible from the A419, the M5, and from all around the county. So that would help us grow our crowd as we grow as a club to be a Championship Football Club."
Colin Peake, a life member of Forest Green Rovers, spoke in favour of the scheme at the development control meeting.
He said: “Whether you’re a devotee of the game or not, very few can argue that the club has brought the world to your doorstep with what has been witnessed over the last few years.
“From small acorns, oak trees grow. And while I cannot guarantee the small acorn of Newton Heath which became Manchester United is likely to happen at junction 13, I know that the late Trevor Horsley and I dreamt of where Forest Green Rovers FC could aspire to reach.
“It was some dream when you had just 32 people and a dog watching a game of football when we first took over.
“Fortunately, that is now a distant memory and so what lies over the horizon no one can really know.
“Whoever has ownership or takes over the running of this football club since 1889, all of us, including Dale Vince, are just temporary custodians.
“But each and every one of us has had the same objective which is to leave it in a better place for a future generation to enjoy.”
Councillor Robert Brown, who represents the area that covers the new stadium highlighted concerns two of the six nearby parish councils have over the proposals.
He said: “Great Olbury Parish Council’s principle concern is that, on matchdays, visitors may seek free parking on the streets of Great Oldbury which would cause significant inconvenience to residents and potentially damage to the area”
He said the stadium would have 1,700 parking spaces of which 170 are accessible, spread across three zones, for 5,000 people, working out at 0.34 spaces per person.
He said the figure appeared to be generous and is confident car parking is sufficient for its current capacity but it would not be the case if the stadium capacity is increased to 10,000 in the future.
He added: “Forest Green Rovers must charge a parking fee which is low enough so it doesn’t discourage visitors from parking on site”
Cllr Brown also said he did not see any material reason to reject the application.
Councillors voted unanimously to approve the proposals. Separate plans to demolish Forest Green Rovers New Lawn Stadium at Forest Green in Nailsworth to make way for up to 95 new homes were also approved by the committee.
Credit: Carmelo Garcia, Local Democracy Reporting Service