Liverpool City Council has given Everton Football Club the ‘green-light’ to proceed with plans to build a new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock.
The Blues’ are planning to build a stunning 52,000-seater stadium on the banks of the River Mersey costing around £500 million.
All councillors unanimously voted to approve the plans on Tuesday. However, the plans are still yet to go to government to rubberstamp what would be an historic moment for Everton Football Club and the Liverpool City Region.
The Bramley-Moore dock is an Historic England heritage site to the north of the city centre. Everton are planning to turn the now derelict site into a new hub for the football club and for the city.
The area is set to be rejuvenated by scheme with the site set to have £55 million invested including refurbishing the Hydraulic Tower and surrounding walls.
Ian Jenkins, from estate company CBRE, explained how that money would be spent at the club’s public presentation this week>>>
The stadium will link up to form the northern part of Liverpool City Council’s planned water walk along the Mersey.
Any other plans set out by the council would mean the area wouldn’t be accessible for another 20 years meaning the stadium would speed up the regeneration of this area.
Mr. Jenkins said: “We’re not just respecting heritage, we’re investing in the heritage. What we’ve achieved is an iconic, world-class design, for a world-class waterfront”.
Mr. Jenkins talks about the waterfront connections and choice of materials in the design>>>
The plans are described as a once in a generational opportunity to regenerate a part of the city that badly needs investment with Everton Chief Executive Denise Barret-Bexandale adding “the stadium will act as a catalyst for further development in the area.”
There is no other regeneration opportunity like the Bramley-Moore docks for the area with the possibility of 15,000 jobs created delivering huge public benefits.
It is predicted the stadium will bring around £1.3 billion into the local economy with £1.7 million in business rates, with the location being crucial to this.
Support for the stadium has been very high. Over 90% of feedback has been positive for each question asked to those surveyed including 98% liking the design and 94% liking the location.
The plans are set to be make the Bramley-Moore dock the most accessible, inclusive and sustainable stadium in the Premier League, far different from what is faced at Goodison.
Sandhills station will be the main Merseyrail link to the ground with plans underway to improve the facilities of the station to keep up with demands the stadium will bring.
There will also be a new north shore circular bus route round the docks and into the city centre, with shuttle buses running from Bootle town centre and Liverpool’s city centre.
A glimpse of the club's plans for matchday transport to the stadium below.
They include "hard" and "soft" road closures as well as bus shuttles and improvements to nearby Sandhills station. pic.twitter.com/roYCwiu8ge
— Nick Tyrrell (@NCTyrrell) February 23, 2021
The stadium is designed to be more sustainable than most others, to comply with the cities plans to be carbon neutral by 2030.
Everton FC claim that the project now meets all the sustainable development goals set by the UN.