Next step for community stadium set to be discussed

Colchester Borough Council is set to commit itself in principal to build a new community stadium for Colchester when two meetings take place next week.

A meeting of the full council will take place on Monday 13 November, allowing all councillors to have the opportunity to discuss proposals and make a recommendation to the cabinet as to whether it should take the next step forward. This will include making finance available to borrow the money needed to build the stadium itself.

A special meeting of the cabinet will then be convened later the same evening to make the final decision.

The Council has been asked to consider the business case and authorise the necessary borrowing powers can be used to fund the project. The Cabinet will then take the decision on whether to progress with the project.

A number of these proposals will lead to further work being carried out before building work could begin, potentially in the next 8 to 12 weeks.

Both the meeting of the full council and the cabinet will take place in the Moot Hall from 6pm.

Cllr Robert Davidson, Leader of Colchester Borough Council, said: "The shadow stadium partnership board, including Colchester2020, Colchester United Football Club, Colchester United Community Sport Trust and Colchester Borough Council has worked incredibly hard to get us to this point. A lot of very detailed financial work has been carried out to make sure that we have a realistic business case and detailed build tenders for the stadium. We have come a long way over the past few months and I believe what we have now is a solid proposal which will help us to deliver a facility which could offer increasing benefits to the whole borough, a home  for Colchester United Football Club and another step in developing Colchester as a prestigious regional centre."

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Press release issued: November 7 2006