Liverpool FC's plans for the extension of Anfield stadium have been recommended for approval by Liverpool council planners.
Elected members of the planning committee will now visit Anfield next Tuesday before voting on the scheme.
The report to go before them gives the most detail to date about the £150m schemewhich is expected to take around 20 months to complete.
An extension of the Main Stand would produce 8,500 extra seats, taking capacity to 54,000, while there is also outline permission recommended for an expanded Anfield Road Stand which would take capacity to 58,800.
The 70-plus page council report reveals that “the new Main Stand would be constructed behind the existing stand to its full height”. Initially an access strip would be kept between the two stands to allow access for match day spectators and stadium operations.
It states that steel columns will have to be put in place and major trusses shipped in and assembled on site to support the roof of the extra tier.
It adds: “The existing roof and upper six rows of the Main Stand need to be demolished, the majority of work which would be done pitch side.
“The new roof would include a long span truss over the existing stand, which would be lifted into position by large cranes, which would sit on specially constructed steel towers on either end of the stand.
“Towards the end of the construction programme the access strip between the existing and new buildings would be in-filled with new floors and terracing, with the uppermost rows of the existing stand and roof then being demolished.”
The report by council officers also includes a lot of detail about how construction of the expansion of the Main Stand would happen.
A system of trusses, together with new steel towers, will support the new roof which will be built off-site, and then assembled on site. Lengths of up to 20m of steel may be required to be delivered into Anfield, with load widths of 2.5m and heights up to 4.5m.”
The pieces for the new Stand will be laid out and assembled on areas between the new Main Stand and Alroy Road and possibly on the existing LFC car park site at the opposite side of Anfield Road.
Two large cranes, one located on Anfield Road and another at the Anfield Plaza end of the site, will help lift the pieces into place, something which will probably require road closures.
The report adds: “The development programme is based on a 20 month construction programme for the Main Stand with an anticipated start date in January 2015.
“Whilst the proposals for the new Anfield Road Stand are in outline format it is envisaged it will be of similar construction to the Main Stand, with a long span truss supported on steel towers.”
A Plaza area will be created where houses on Lothair Road used to stand and, as previously revealed, an avenue through to Stanley Park will be named in honour of the victims of the Hillsborough disaster.
The Hillsborough memorial itself will have to be moved from its existing position behind the Anfield Road Stand with the report adding it will be placed in a specially-designed colonnade and semi-secluded ‘memorial garden’ off the main concourse.
The garden would provide seating areas to provide separation from match day pedestrian traffic, whilst also allowing smaller spaces for sitting, gathering and reflection. Pieces of art will be introduced to interpret the history of LFC including the Hillsborough tragedy.
In order to protect the memorial it will be removed at the start of phase one of construction and brought back once it can be positioned in its new location.
The plans for the new stadium have generated major interest, with up to half a million people viewing a consultation website that was created, massively outstripping any previous schemes in the city of recent years.
But the plans have excited fervent opposition from some residents groups, who believe the community has been “held to ransom” and has been forced to endure years of dereliction and decay while the club and council failed to commit to one scheme or the other.
Opponents including the Anfield Rockfield Area Committee (ARAC) believe the new stadium will have an adverse impact on local businesses and Stanley Park.
So far, both Liverpool council and Liverpool Football Club are waiting until the planning meeting to make any comment on the proposals to go before the committee at the town hall next Tuesday.
The main objections to the plans come from a local residents group and the Friends of Stanley Park.
Anfield Rockfield Area Committee (ARAC) states that: “Throughout the application documents LFC reiterate that they have planning permission for a 60,000 capacity stadium in Stanley Park which sets a precedent for consideration of this application, thereby using the application documents as a leverage to hold LCC and local residents to ransom. ARAC is of the opinion that this planning permission should be rescinded.
“The extent to which LFC, as a private body, is able to profit from its business is irrelevant to whether approval for the proposals should be granted. What the club is seeking to do, in linking its profitability to the prosperity of the city, is tantamount to blackmail and is beyond what the planning system allows to be taken into account.”
Friends of Stanley Park believes that the stadium will have a detrimental impact on the park, including the loss of football pitches that are currently there.
It also calls for separate permission should be sought to build the avenue through the park, given it is Grade II listed.
And the group questions why the club has only been asked to offer around £800,000 for works in the park, which it does not believe will cover the cost.
But the report going to planners recommends that the objections be taken into account but that the scheme be approved.
The report concludes: “The architectural approach reflects and builds upon the language of the existing stadium whilst the public realm design helps integrate the extended stadium into the surrounding neighbourhoods and improve legibility within the area.”
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