GLA Pledge to Help Spurs’ Stadium Bid
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September 29, 2011 TheFreshOutlook  |
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club has been offered a money-saving deal by the Greater London Authority to stay in north London.
Last week Tottenham signed a planning agreement to build a new stadium next to White Hart Lane, but it appears the deal has fallen through after the Greater London Authority (GLA) and Haringey Council offered to relieve the club of all community infrastructure payments that the planners require.
This would be on one condition, however, that they would regenerate in the Tottenham area with the £8.5m contribution rather than build a new stadium.
The GLA funding would come from a pot of £50m earmarked for the regeneration of the London areas affected by the rioting.
In addition, Haringey Council have agreed to a £8.5m cut out of the funding to go towards the club, therefore saving the north London side further financial woes.
The Northumberland Development Project, that was launched in 2008 and gave promise to enhance the ground’s capacity to a 60,000 seat stadium, unfortunately grinded to a halt. With soaring costs the plan, which involved building a new stadium on the current site, was brushed aside.
Spurs Chairman Daniel Levy said In June 2008 at the start of the project: “The scheme includes the current site and adjoining land with the stadium sited to the north of the existing one.
“It will be an iconic stadium and will be at least as good as Arsenal’s Emirates.”
Levy also confirmed that the naming rights to the ground would be sold off: “We Will need a naming rights partner, that is fundamental for any new stadium built in Europe.”
This all stemmed from the controversy over who was going to have the Olympic stadium in their bitter feud with West Ham over the Stratford-based ground.
GLA representatives have urged the club to go ahead with their plans for the venue at Northumberland Park, with the package including improved transport links from the surrounding areas to White Hart Lane.
Mayor Boris Johnson, however, hoped the club wouldn’t ask for more money, saying; “The club knows there is no more money available from the public purse and I sincerely hope that they accept the offer we have.
Haringey Council leader Claire Kober said: “It’s critically important that Spurs commit to Tottenham to help drive forward regeneration in deprived areas.”
Spurs chairman Daniel Levy acknowledged what has been said about the council’s current stance on their new stadium, saying: “The overall scheme requires a complex package of financing of which is the correct level of nature of public support is critical.”
By Josh Williams
[Image courtesy of Alan Swain]
