Bristol Rovers FC have announced the passing of a further milestone in their project to build a new 21,700-seater stadium on land near the University of the West of England in Stoke Gifford.
A message on the club’s website says the three month period during which the granting of planning permission could have been challenged through a judicial review has now expired, leaving the way open for construction to start.
However, the club must still wait for the same milestone to be reached on Sainsbury’s plans to redevelop their current ground, the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, the proceeds from which will finance the new stadium.
On that front, club chairman Nick Higgs reports:
“Things are also progressing with the Section 106 [agreement] on the Sainsbury’s development at the current Memorial Stadium site, and we hope that will be signed in the very near future.”
Work on the new stadium is expected to take 18 months to complete, allowing Rovers to move to the stadium in time for the start of the 2015/16 season.
Preliminary work started earlier this year, when contractors moved onto the site to drill a series of boreholes to test ground conditions.
Related link: UWE Stadium (The Journal)
