In line with its commitment to giving supporters a regular bulletin on the progress of the proposed Lionel Road Regeneration project the BFC Board has issued the following update:
In late October we reported that work on the project had intensified. This included regular and numerous discussions with potential developers, their architects, independent cost consultants and other people who could give us the benefit of their advice or experience from previous stadium projects, including those at Arsenal and Swansea.
This work followed meetings during the course of September with Hounslow Council, the Greater London Authority and the London Development Agency. On-going support from all of these bodies will be important to enable us to acquire the site and obtain planning consent
In November a presentation was made to the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, who expressed his support for the Community Stadium project and the broader regeneration benefits it will bring to the area. This was followed in December by a presentation to the London Development Agency (LDA), which is now lending its support in our discussions with other parties to help us achieve the community and regeneration objectives of the scheme.
Discussions about the opportunity to purchase the land at Lionel Road directly have also been held with the Department of Transport, the current owners BRB (Residuary) Ltd and the preferred purchasers, Chancerygate. Brentford FC Ltd has submitted an offer to buy the site but the current owners still want to complete their sale to Chancerygate. Subsequently we are in confidential discussions with the relevant people to see if there is a reasonable deal to be done which would enable the community stadium project to go ahead on the site.
In parallel with discussions on the land purchase we continue negotiations with a major developer to agree the principles of a commercial collaboration that would fund the community stadium These discussions will have to remain confidential until formal agreements are in place.
As momentum builds up on the project we are keeping Hounslow Council officers and members informed of progress and discussing relevant aspects with them.
The coming months will be crucial in determining how the project can proceed and we aim to issue the next update around the end of the season in May.