NELC Meeting

By: Nick Osborne
Date: 19/01/2001

The NELC's planning committee met today at the Grimsby Town Hall hall at 0930 to discuss the planning application by Grimsby Town Football Club for the new stadium and non-food retail development project.

It was stated at the beginning of the meeting it will have to be sent to the John Prescott, the Secretary of State, for approval and to see if it needs to be called in.

The relevant points raised were concerns regarding Traffic and the Impact on surrounding area.

It was pointed out that all requirements placed on the developers have all been catered for. Any impact on the area would be minimal as the whole project had already been re-designed and re-configured by the developers.

Councillor DeFreitas yet again went off the subject by quoting his concerns for the residents parking problems in his ward, in particular Wintringham road. He was of course told to stick to the matter in hand and was also challenged by councillor Wallace, who told him to stop trying to muddy the waters without good reason.

He (DeFreitas) then went on to warn people not to get married in Great Coates on match day because you would never get to the church on time. Again he was challenged by councillor Wallace, who said he should stop scare mongering and quoted 5 churches on Grimsby Road who suffered no such problems.

Coun. M Barker asked about the provision of the training pitches and learning centre, she was told these where initially for GTFC use, but provision had been made to make them available to local groups.

Concerns about traffic related problems where raised by both councillors DeFreitas and Mills. The police have promised an extra 3 to 5 traffic wardens on match day, as well as stewarding provided by the club to monitor the situation and act as and when required.

To follow normal proceedings, the plan will now go to the secretary of state for his approval.

In short, the application was passed 4 votes to 3 but the future direction will be the responsibility of the secretary of state.

Also on the agenda was the proposed development of Blundell Park for housing. This was passed unanimously.

Speaking after todays meeting, Bryan Huxford, Vice Chairman of the club said he was pleased with the proceedings outcome and was what he expected. When questioned about the fears of the residents of Great Coates,he said "All their fears and anxiety's have been more than dealt with, but I am always happy to discuss with them any concerns they might have."

Asked how long before the new stadium would be up and running he replied "It would take about 2 years.We won't be able to start until about September at the earliest so about 2 years is a fair and reasonable time for the project to be completed by"

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