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Everton stadium plans approved by council

Everton’s planning application for its new stadium on Bramley-Moore Dock has today (Tuesday) been unanimously approved by Liverpool City Council.

The Council has also approved plans for a community-led legacy project at Goodison Park, Everton’s current home.

The plans will now automatically be referred to the Secretary of State for Housing Communities and Local Government, as 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.

Today’s announcement marks a significant step forward for Everton, which is hoping to move into the 52,888-capacity stadium in 2024.

The special planning committee meeting was attended by Everton chief executive Denise Barrett-Baxendale and stadium development director Colin Chong, who fielded questions from councillors in attendance. The two-hour meeting ended with the councillors unanimously approving the plans.

Everton chairman Bill Kenwright said: “Whilst today is just one more step in our long journey, it is a very important one. Farhad (Moshiri, majority owner of Everton) and I would like to thank Denise and Colin and their dedicated team for their 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 has been working with the Liverpool Planning Authority, Historic England and other stakeholders over the past 12 months as part of the planning process. The club was advised by CBRE UK Planning & Development throughout the process.

Today’s announcement comes after the council last week recommended that the plans be approved. Everton had been hoping for a decision from the council at some point in December but the verdict was pushed back.

Everton revealed amendments to its initial plans in August following objections from heritage groups. Changes included a river-facing plaza and the removal of the multi-storey car park at the West End of the stadium.

The project is expected to cost around £500m (€579m/$703m) and will create around 15,000 jobs. The design for the stadium includes four distinctive stands, including a steep, 13,000-seat home stand.

Image: Everton