English Premier League football club Leicester City has seen a verdict on its proposed expansion of King Power Stadium slip to next month.
The latest news comes after further details emerged in November regarding Leicester’s plans to expand King Power Stadium, with the north and south stands set to form part of the wide-ranging project.
Leicester confirmed in October that it had submitted its hybrid planning application to Leicester City Council. Details of the project were first revealed in July, with the plans including a proposal to expand King Power Stadium’s capacity from 32,000 to 40,000 and introduce a mixed-use development that will feature a new arena.
The submission of a planning application followed an extensive pre-application public consultation, which ran from August to September. Leicester City Council’s consultation over the submission was due to end on February 2, with a target decision date set for February 10.
However, the Leicester Mercury said consultation will now run until March 31, with a new target date for a decision set at April 20. The newspaper said the delay has come about due to further documents being presented since the filing of the planning application.
These include analysis of the impact of the project on the air quality in the local area, and on local traffic and travel, due to the stadium’s proposed increased capacity.
Earlier this year, approval was given to two other proposals put forward by Leicester. This granted the club the ability to commence preliminary works on site, which has yet to commence.
The wider project also includes the construction of a new club megastore, 220-room hotel, club and commercial office space, a residential tower, and a new multi-storey car park. Thai travel retail group King Power International, which owns the club, has long spoken about its ambitions to enhance the team’s facilities and expand the stadium, which first opened in 2002.
Image: Leicester City
