The full plans for Salford City's Moor Lane stadium have finally been revealed after the club - joint owned by Gary and Phil Neville, Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes, together with Singaporean zillionaire, Peter Lim submitted a planning application to Salford Council.
The swanky stadium, sited on land owned by Salford City Council, will have new covered four sided stands that will mean the demolition of the existing iconic main stand, two extra turnstiles on Moor Lane and Nevile Road, and will incorporate a fan zone "an amphitheatre style space open for potential performances as pre-match and post match entertainment" - and a new supporters bar.
"During the evening the multi-use space could be available for hire for a range of social functions" the application states and "potential for the use of the space by local interest groups."
To quote the words of design consultants, Zerum, it will be a "fresh modern stadium with an expanded metal mesh facade, wrapping around the entire stadium at high level allowing light to penetrate through giving the stadium a distinctive glow on the landscape and offering a truly unique landmark feature..." etc.
The existing stadium currently has capacity for 2,163 fans, but this will more than double to 5,108 (2,241seats) to comply with standards for EFL League 2, which the club is intent on reaching.
The team, while currently faltering in the National League North, attracts well over 1,000 people per game and local residents have been incensed by traffic and parking problems. The new ground will only provide 68 parking spaces, even though Salford Council's current Unitary Development Plan states that stadia should have a maximum of 1 space per 18 seats, or 284 spaces in the new stadium.
"Due to the site constraints, it is not possible to provide this level of parking within the stadium boundary" the planning application states "... the club is aware that additional match day parking would be beneficial and they are actively seeking additional parking provision in close proximity to the site."
Based on a survey of travel modes at the FC United game this season, consultants, Curtins, have concluded that 31% of fans drive cars to the match, so a crowd of 2,000 generates 610 cars, a crowd of 3,000 would generate 930 cars, a crowd of 4,000 would generate 1,240 cars and a crowd of 5,000 would generate 1,550 cars.
However these figures were subsequently scaled down - because of the nature of the evening FCUM game - to 25% of fans driving to the match. The justification for this, the consultants state, is that supporters travelling to weekend matches "would be more likely to travel to games by sustainable modes, as they could combine the match with other social activities such as a visit to a public house".
Even though residents might get even more incensed by a load of pissed up fans, and may also dispute the lower percentage of cars, it would still generate around 1,000 cars for a big match.
"On-street parking currently occurs in the vicinity of the site and it is likely that pressure for on-street parking may increase" the club concedes.
This represents the major stumbling block for the approval of the stadium as the narrow local roads just cannot cope with the volume of cars, even before the capacity is increased.
"To ensure existing residents are protected during match days, the Club is proposing to work with SCC Highways to implement a match day Traffic Regulation Order which would prevent fans parking on Nevile Road and potentially other surrounding residential streets" the application states.
"The provision of off-street parking facilities for limited use on match-days is currently being explored by the Club" it adds "Whilst a commercial deal has not been agreed at this time, there are a number of sites that may be suitable and discussions are on-going."
To try and placate local residents the club is also proposing a Travel Plan "To ensure existing residents are protected during match days", but virtually all the measures are to be put in place after it gets planning permission for the stadium...
The Travel Plan includes the encouragement of car sharing and the provision of 15 bicycle spaces at the stadium, plus "fan education" - Welcome Leaflets that will specify "the health benefits of walking, cycling and environmental benefits of sustainable modes of transport", a newsletter including "Stories of other supporters who travel sustainably to the stadium to inspire others", and "The Club will work with local schools to stress the importance of sustainable travel".
The club is also looking at incentives like discounted tickets and food and drink for supporters who travel by `sustainable modes of travel'... "Precise details will be agreed in due course..."
At a consultation with local residents other issues raised were litter, antisocial behaviour, disruption of works and noise. On the latter, the club's consultants carried out a `noise assessment report', based on guidelines by the World Health Organisation, where 50 decibels makes people `moderately annoyed; and 55 decibels makes people `seriously annoyed' and need protection.
The consultants found the noise levels on Moor Lane for Saturday 24th September to be 55 decibels, with maximum noise levels recorded up to 75 decibels (sing when you're winning etc)...
"The prediction calculations indicate that the proposed new stands will noticeably increase noise levels at existing receptors during the football match" the report states "However as the noise levels will only occur for a limited period, and as matchday noise of a comparable level is already occurring regularly at the site, it is considered that this change will constitute a slight to moderate adverse impact at existing receptors."
The report notes that "existing noise levels are already above these guideline values during football matches" and adds "To ensure the potential impact of these noise sources do not have a negative impact of the nearby residential receptors, best working practices should be implemented to ensure that the impact of the proposed matchday noise, on existing receptors is minimised" (make sure every game is boring?).
Residents at the consultation who were in favour of the stadium saw the positives including the potential to open up the facilities on non match days, the good design, job creation, investing in junior teams and coaching and the potential for the local community to get involved.
130 residents attended the two consultations but only half those people filled in feedback forms, with 43 in favour of the scheme and 19 unsure or opposed to it.
In additional, the planning application states that local councillors have had a site visit and discussions have been held with local Blackley and Broughton MP, `Brian' Stringer. We're sure Graham Stringer will enjoy chatting in the future with Nigel Giggs and Rupert Neville...
Residents have until November 17th to register objections or support for the stadium. Email planning.contact@salford.gov.uk including your name and postal address.
All the plans can be seen online either at http://publicaccess.salford.gov.uk/publicaccess and quoting planning application 16/69004/FUL
Or by clicking here
The plans can also be viewed on paper at Emerson House in Eccles
See also recent previous related Salford Star articles on Salford City FC...
Salford City Class of 92 Book Intrigue click here
50% of Salford City FC Now Held in Tax Haven click here
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