£50m Home Park redevelopment gets green light
Plymouth City Council has given the go ahead to plans for a £50m redevelopment of Plymouth Argyle's Home Park ground and its vicinity.
Councillors approved the project at a detailed planning committee meeting held at the Civic Centre on Thursday (15 August) while some Argyle fans waited on tenterhooks outside.
The regeneration project, proposed by the club's owner Akkeron Group, includes a new grandstand for the stadium, a 10-screen Imax cinema, state-of-the-art ice rink and a hotel.
Councillors raised a number of concerns including car parking, the impact of construction work, landscaping, the effect on local retail, and the future of 18 hornbeam trees in the area; before voting unanimously to pass the proposal.
Akkeron founder and Argyle chairman James Brent told the Argyle website: “Securing planning consent is an important milestone and heralds a new and exciting chapter for Plymouth.
"I would like to put on record my sincere thanks to the overwhelming number of individuals and representative groups who worked with us on the shaping of the scheme and for supporting what we want to achieve for them and future generations.
“What we propose is not a departure from what city forefathers wanted when they set aside Higher Home Park and Central Park for the recreational enjoyment of local people.
“We will be faithful to this vision but offer a range of new indoor and enhanced outdoor amenities. Clearly in the 1920s no one would have anticipated a time when IMAX cinema technology would entertain film lovers from across the region, but we are also funding over £1.1 million of improvements to the surrounding parkland because we recognise that exercise in the fresh air is an enduring leisure activity for many.
"Plymouth deserves to have sporting and leisure facilities and hospitality services it can be proud of.“
The project will also involve improvements to Central Park and will help secure increased revenue streams for the football club through the new Mayflower grandstand.
The Akkeron Group said the development would create 1,000 new jobs.
