Steel frames Southend football plans

Southend United Football Club has unveiled fresh plans that are being backed by developer British Land for a new stadium.

The latest plan will see the 21,000-seat stadium complex flanked by three major apartment blocks, helping to fund the scheme at Fossetts Farm.

A new stadium has been in the offing for 15 years, but plans have foundered several times. The last scheme in 2008 stalled as Sainsbury’s, which was backing the club, suffered setbacks.

The latest plan will include a number of steel-framed elements including a 12 screen cinema, retail and restaurant floorspace together with related ancillary infrastructure at Fossetts Farm.

Southend United is said to be confident the latest plan will finally get off the ground and hopes to submit planning in December with view to starting construction next year.

Mary Power, from Powerhaus Consultancy, who are the club’s planning agents, said: “We are confident because of the quality of British Land, they are a blue chip company, and one of the top five companies in the country in their field – so they would not invest in this if they didn’t think they could make it work.

“We’re aiming to get the application to development control by March, before the local elections, and if everything goes well, we could be onsite by the end of 2016.