Crystal Palace have taken a major step forward in the redevelopment of their Selhurst Park stadium after signing a deal to fund community improvements.
The agreement, referred to in planning regulations as Article 106, was the most significant obstacle to the start of construction of a new main stand with a capacity of 13,500. Although this deal has been agreed for some time, Palace have not signed it – which was necessary when work on the stadium began.
On Friday, it was six years since the Premier League club first obtained planning permission to rebuild that stand and make other improvements to their ground. But there have been bumps along the way, with a revised planning application approved in October last year by Croydon Council.
They are now free to start working, with the hope of doing so this summer. Palace says it remains on track to meet that timetable, which has already been stated by its chairman, Steve Parish.
So how did we get here and how significant is this latest development?
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What is a Section 106 Agreement and why is it so important?
Section 106 of the UK Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (S106) is legislation relating to the funding of community improvements imposed on developers for any major development.
It is used to mitigate any negative impacts of the project and, in Palace’s case, commits them to providing between £700,000 and £1 million of community improvements. Details are specified in the agreement.
Without its adoption, planning permission was only granted in principle, as it was still subject to the approval and signing of S106.
This was agreed a long time ago – why has it only been signed now?
Yes, it was initially agreed in 2018, but it has since been amended several times, with residents of nearby Wooderson Close, where several homes will be demolished as part of the new stand project, submitting applications for minor changes but significant.
Over time, further negotiations took place with the local borough council.
This was particularly true after Palace had to resubmit a planning application last year due to changes to the London Plan (which determines how the UK capital as a whole will develop over the next 20 to 25 coming years). In October, the club and council confirmed that S106 had been “substantially agreed”.
But the reason it took so long is probably because once S106 is signed, planning permission expires after three years. This would require a new application. Approval would not be guaranteed and it would also take a lot of time and money.
Given that Palace had only recently reached an agreement with the local council over the houses in Wooderson Close and purchased a plot of land from supermarket chain Sainsbury’s for several million pounds, there was no benefit to sign a commitment which prescribed them even though everything was not in compliance. place to begin work.
What about the cost of the project, how much is it?
When the redevelopment was first proposed it was expected to cost between £75 million and £100 million. But with the Covid-19 pandemic and soaring inflation in recent years, costs have soared to at least £150m.
There were never any funds available to finance the project set aside by the club’s owners, despite suggestions that Parish, David Blitzer and Josh Harris were going to do so when the two Americans became general partners in 2015. But funding has been secured, with additional investment now in place as well.
“The final element of the club’s strategic plan is to invest at Selhurst Park, primarily in the Main Stand, to enable us to… build a sustainable Premier League club. With additional investor funding secured, the Main Stand project is moving forward,” Parish wrote in the club’s latest accounts.
Additional funding worth £45m was secured via a capital call from existing shareholders in January.
Does the signing of article 106 mean that the project is definitively carried out?
This is the closest we have ever been and the club says plans are on track. There is no apparent reason for this to happen not arrive.
But Palace fans can be forgiven for feeling tired. They’ve been here before.
Under the leadership of then-president Ron Noades, planning permission was granted in 1996 to demolish the main stand and replace it with a two-level structure including bars, lounges, executive boxes and a creche, but this was never given. After the takeover of CPFC in 2010, a complete reconstruction of Selhurst Park was also considered.
In 2011, plans were unveiled to return to the club’s original home at Crystal Palace Park, a 12-minute drive north. Although these projects never came to fruition, they were not entirely abandoned. As recently as 2020, they were briefly revisited before being discarded in favor of the Selhurst project.
Skepticism is apparent among supporters, with the feeling that despite the club’s stated ambition to begin work at the end of this season, the lack of tangible progress suggests otherwise.
Those involved in decision-making at Croydon Council may also have felt exasperated by the extent of the plan’s progress so far. Some have even privately expressed their own skepticism about the project. The political makeup of the council has changed since 2018, which may have already slowed things down, while there is now an elected mayor, Jason Perry, who took office in 2022. Perry is a season ticket holder Palace, but the future of Selhurst Park is in the club’s hands.
As understandable as the doubts are, this is a project which has already seen over £1 million invested in preparatory works, with holes drilled in the stadium car park to assess ground conditions in order to prepare the foundations of the new stand; Palace spent considerable time and effort following the council’s initial instructions and submitted its revised planning application last year.
It is in the interests of the council, the club and the South London area that this continues.
Palace would not have responded to these council requests and submitted this revised planning application if there had not been an intention to proceed with the project. The signing of the S106 is a major step forward.
What if Palace were relegated?
The likelihood of that being a problem this season was effectively halted by Sunday’s 1-0 away win over title-chasing Liverpool which left Palace 14th in the 20-team Premier League on 33 points after 32 from their 38 matches – eight points. ahead of Luton Town, in first place of the three relegation places, with a game in hand.
Even if Palace are relegated this year or for some reason work doesn’t start this summer and they go down to the EFL next season without having started, there is no reason to believe anything will change . The need to rebuild the Main Stand is still present and Palace hope to bounce back quickly in the Premier League, where they will benefit from the improved facilities of the new stand.
Funding has been secured so there would be no need to find additional investment, which could be more difficult with Palace in the Championship.
When is the stand likely to open?
The work should last between 27 and 30 months; although, given the ramp-up, test events would need to take place first to identify issues and Palace’s likely preference for a big reveal rather than opening it in the middle of a season, this may s extend over three years (the original intention was for the stand to open with the start of a new season in August 2021, just over three years after work began at the end of the 2017-18 campaign).
If this timeline still applies, we would be looking at the start of the 2027-28 season.
Croydon Palace and Council have been contacted for comment on this story.
(Top photo: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)