City Council Blocks Everton Ground Sale

Liverpool City Council have ruled against Everton’s appeal for planning permission to sell their former training ground for housing to help finance a move to a new stadium.

The Premier League club had been looking to cash in to the tune of £10m on a sale of its former Bellefield training ground in West Derby as it looked to pull in funds to support its proposed £78m new stadium development in Kirby.

However, the club insist that the stadium project – a joint venture with Tesco – will not be affected by the decision, a club spokesman insisting: ‘We can find that money from other sources.’

A separate planning inquiry is underway to decide whether the club’s new stadium can go ahead, and is expected to last another three weeks. However Everton have suggested the decision over the training ground was politically motivated, intended to impede the Kirkby move.

Acting chief executive Robert Elstone said: ‘The truly disappointing aspect of this is that the politicians who run this city went against the recommendations of the council’s own planning experts.

‘In such circumstances you have to ask, why is that? What is the point in employing experienced and learned experts if you are simply going to ignore their advice? Over the past few years we have constantly shown a willingness to work with Liverpool City Council to safeguard the long-term future of our football club… sadly, it does not appear to be a reciprocal arrangement.

‘The council’s own director of planning threw his weight behind this project – he believed it to be both sensible and suitable – and so did we.’

Everton wanted to sell their old training ground and build 74 houses on the site, despite objections from local residents. The scheme received planning department approval, but was rejected by Liverpool council’s planning committee last year.

The subsequent appeal has now been rejected by government planning inspector Karen Ridge on ‘the principle of residential development on the site’.

Everton moved to their new Finch Farm training complex in Halewood last year.