Aston Villa has launched a pre-application planning consultation on the first phase of its long-term vision for Villa Park and the surrounding area, with the prospect of increasing the capacity of the English Premier League football club’s home stadium to more than 50,000 seats.
Villa’s consultation, which launched today (Tuesday) and will run until July 24, will gather feedback from the local community, organisations and fans ahead of the designs and plans being finalised. The club’s ambition is to submit its planning application later this summer, with a planning decision anticipated before the end of this year.
Phase one of the development, anticipated for between 2023 and 2025, would involve a rebuilt North Stand (pictured) wrapping into an enhanced Trinity Stand. Approximately 7,400 seats would be added to the stadium’s current capacity of 42,785, on top of enhanced hospitality facilities.
Villa Live, a brand-new standalone multi-use entertainment, community and retail venue destination incorporating a club museum, would also be built, whilst the stadium’s Witton Lane entrance and the public space around the North Stand would also be revamped.
The club said that it would take into account various pieces of feedback from fans in fine-tuning the redevelopment.
For example, significant enhancements to Wi-Fi would be made with giant screens installed on the back of more than six in 10 fans saying that connectivity and mobile signal are very poor at the stadium.
With reference to the Villa Live hub plans, the club said that 54% of fans would arrive earlier if the outside stadium experience was more connected to the inside, and 42% of under-35s would arrive earlier for more unique entertainment experiences at the stadium.
Villa added in a statement that the plans “pave the way to create a world-class sporting venue, enabling the club to compete at the very highest level”.
Image: Aston Villa
Share this