Liverpool City Council approves Everton’s stadium plans

Everton Football Club’s planning applications for a new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock and a community-led legacy project at Goodison Park were unanimously approved by Liverpool City Council today.

The local authority’s Planning Committee hosted a special planning committee meeting, with Everton CEO, Denise Barrett-Baxendale and Stadium Development Director, Colin Chong, presenting the Club’s plans for Bramley-Moore Dock and Goodison Park and fielding questions from the councillors in attendance.

The two hour meeting ended with the councillors confirming their approval for the plans.

The decision to grant approval for a new 52,888-capacity waterfront stadium and the outline application for a re-imagined Goodison Park brings both projects a significant step closer.

Everton Chairman, Bill Kenwright, said:

Whilst today is just one more step in our long journey, it is a very important one. Farhad and I would like to thank Denise and Colin and their dedicated team for the extraordinary hard work and commitment that has got us to today.

We are also enormously grateful to the many organisations and tens of thousands of individuals across the city region who have given us their feedback, ideas and support along the way. It’s been a good week for Everton and Evertonians.

Everton CEO, Professor Denise Barrett-Baxendale, said in a statement:

This is a significant step forward for our project – and news I am sure every Evertonian will welcome. It is also a huge boost to our city and city region. 

I am sure you are aware of how important a new stadium will be for us – providing the state-of-the-art facilities befitting of an ambitious Premier League club – as well as the important role it can play in boosting our local economy at a time when it’s never been more needed.

The project, which will be one the most significant infrastructure projects our city has seen in many years and one of the largest single site developments in the country at this time, will provide a £1.3bn boost to the local economy and deliver more than 15,000 jobs.

If we achieve the final planning approval we have all worked so hard for, then we be in a position to complete our funding arrangements and confirm our schedule for the build process at Bramley-Moore Dock.

Everton has been advised by CBRE UK Planning & Development team and has worked closely with the Liverpool Planning Authority, Historic England and other stakeholders for the past 12-months as part of the planning process.

Following the City Council’s approval, the plans have now automatically been referred to the Secretary of State for Housing Communities and Local Government. This is standard practice for a development of this size and scale. The Government will have an initial 21 days to review the application before reaching a decision.