| Where is the new stadium?
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Click here for the map
and images of the new location. Basically its very close to Highbury, half-a-mile away, in Islington. |
| How much will it cost? |
It is thought that construction cost of the new stadium will be in the region of £150m (US$210 million) but the overall project cost will be somewhere around £400m. The scheme will be financed by City bank loans, sponsorship by the club's new partners Granada Communications and the sale of Highbury for a luxury homes development.
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| What will be the capacity? |
State-of-the-Art 60,000 all-seater. |
| Who currently owns the land? |
Railtrack, Sainsbury and the Peabody Trust. Planning applications were submitted to the London Borough of Islington, and were given the green light in a late night meeting on December 10th 2001. |
| What is currently on this land? |
There is a waste disposal unit on part of the ground, but nothing on the rest, its been waste ground for over 20 years. |
| Who will build the new Stadium? |
Architects HOK Sport, the designers behind Sydney's Olympic stadium and the new Wembley, are involved in the project. Pictures of the stadium can be seen here. |
| When will building work start? |
Work on the stadium will begin in mid 2002 with plans for it to be completed for the start of the 2004-5 season. |
| What will the new stadium be called? |
No name has yet been announced, but it is thought that it will be called Ashburton Grove, although it could be sponsorship link. |
| What will happen to Highbury? |
Highbury will be developed into luxury homes for the local residents. |
| Reasons for the new stadium. |
Increase revenue from each home game compared with the 38,000 capacity currently at Highbury, and compete with the likes of Manchester United, whose Old Trafford stadium holds nearly 68,000 paying spectators. The extra capacity will bring about £30m in additional income every season.
Manager Arsene Wenger, whose current contract was due at the end of the 2001/2 season, announced at the end of last week he had at last signed a new four-year contract, and the proposed move to the new stadium at Ashburton Grove was believed to be one of the factors which persuaded the Frenchman to commit his future to the club.
27-acre project will create 1,800 jobs, 2,300 new homes, health facilities and children's nurseries and invest £400m into the area.
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| Reasons against the new stadium. |
Highbury has been a traditional home to the gunners, and it will be hard to leave it.
Local residents believe it will result in 1,100 redundancies from the local area and that the transport infrastructure will not be able to cope. However this is negated by a condition in the palnning approval, in that, Arsenal contribute about �8m to improving rail stations which serve the area and constructing four new health centres.
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| What votes were carried out at the planning meeting? |
Vote 1:- Should the project be given approval (34 in favour with seven against and one abstention ) Vote 2:- Plan to relocate businesses from the Ashburton Grove site (31 votes in favor, eight against and three abstentions) Vote 3:- Turn Highbury into a housing development (34 votes in favor to seven against.)
However, the plans will have to be approved by London mayor Ken Livingstone, who has 14 days to back or block the scheme. The Christmas break will delay his verdict until the New Year.
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