Brentford get green light for Lionel Road

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Hounslow Council have approved Brentford’s proposed building of a 20,000-capacity stadium at Lionel Road.

The Bees’ plans for a new home were backed at an all-important council meeting on Thursday night and the matter will now be passed to the London Mayor Boris Johnson and the Communities Secretary Eric Pickles for final approval.

It means the club is set to leave Griffin Park, its home since 1904, in what it seen as a crucial development in safeguarding Brentford’s future.

The meeting, which lasted for four hours and was attended by more than 500 people, heard a passionate presentation in favour of the plans by the Brentford FC Community Sports Trust, who have played a leading role in lobbying for the move.

Griffin Park, Brentford
Brentford plan to leave Griffin Park.

Club chairman Cliff Crown also addressed councillors and there was strong support too from the Brentford Chamber of Commerce.

The club argued that it is currently losing about £500,000 per year and does not have a sustainable future without the move to the proposed site near Kew Bridge, where Brentford hope to be playing by 2016.

As well as new expanded facilities for the Brentford FC Community Sports Trust charity and other community facilities, the plans include the building of a hotel, retail outlets and 910 homes.

There was applause for Brentford’s project team when they finished stating their case almost two hours after the meeting began.

Objections, which included concerns over potential traffic congestion, were then heard before a council planning officer dismissed English Heritage opposition to Brentford’s plans and recommended they be approved.

Closing summaries by the 15 councillors indicated that the voting would go in the club’s favour and it did, with nine of them supporting the proposals – much to the delight of the Brentford fans present.

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