Published: 12/03/2010 12:01:28 | Modified: 12/03/2010 12:07:01
Author: Andy Wilson | All Contributors
Cumbes: 'We can now begin to move Lancs forward'
There was some restrained jubiliation and a few remaining concerns, but also an overwhelming feeling of relief at Old Trafford last night after Lancashire's plans for the redevelopment of the ground were given final approval by the local council.
After a process going back more than five years, a packed council chamber – including Lanky the Giraffe, the club's mascot – heard a number of objections to the Tesco superstore that will be built between the cricket and football grounds to fund the £32m redevelopment, as well as a rival application for another supermarket to be built on a nearby site.
But after a three-hour meeting described as "harrowing" by the Lancashire chief executive Jim Cumbes, Trafford Council's planning committee approved Lancashire's plans on a majority vote.
The decision will now be referred to the Government Office for the North-West, who have 21 days to decide whether it should be sent for a national inquiry.
However, with the Northwest Development Agency meeting next week to vote on a £7.2m funding package to add to Lancashire's pot, the club are cautiously optimistic that there will be no further delays – allowing them to submit a bid to stage a Test in the 2013 Ashes series to the England and Wales Cricket Board, whose officials are due in Manchester for a meeting next month.
"We're absolutely delighted," said Cumbes, the former Lancashire seamer who deferred his retirement as chief executive to see the five-year redevelopment project through to the end.
"It was always going to be difficult but it means the club can now move forward in terms of continuing with international cricket at Old Trafford.
"It does get referred to Government Office North-West, but the Government likes decisions to be made locally, so we would hope they would endorse what Trafford Council have said.
"Then we can start to talk to contractors, and getting ourselves set up for starting work at the end of this year or early next year at the latest.
"We've now got a great chance of retaining international cricket in the North-West because it means we can get on with doing what we want to do, and meeting the requirements that the ECB have."
Matt Colledge, the leader of Trafford Council, said: "If the committee's decision is supported by Government Office North-West, this is the beginning of exciting times for the Old Trafford area and the borough generally.
"It is an important milestone for the cricket club and will hopefully enable them to achieve their ambition to bring international Test match cricket back to Old Trafford.
"These developments will bring £16m of additional value into Trafford and create more than 600 jobs."
However, there have already been calls for Government North West to refer the plans for further investigation.
Friends of the Earth issued a statement describing the decision as “outrageous" and said: “The Government must urgently call in this application, introduce stronger planning policy to curb supermarket dominance, and instead support independent shops, local economies and a broader choice of retail for communities.”
Lancashire are not home and dry yet, especially in an election year.