Source: Telegraph
Everton planned move to Kirkby rejected as public inquiry rules against it
The club had expected the result of a public inquiry into the venture - jointly funded by the club, Knowsley Council and Tesco as part of a major retail development - later this week, but Communities Secretary John Denham on Wednesday decided the project contravenes governmental shopping policy designed to stop major chains luring business away from town centres. [LNB]Several local councils had lodged concerns over the project's detrimental effect on business. [LNB] Related ArticlesPhil Neville set for three-week lay-offRooney 'filling the void' left by Ronaldo at UnitedManchester v MerseysideMoyes: Rodwell staying at EvertonMikel Arteta: I want to end my career at EvertonSport on televisionIt had been thought that the project's potential for regenerating the Kirkby area - providing 7,000 jobs and pouring £400 million into the region - would be enough to overcome any qualms over the partnership with Tesco and contravention of government retail policy. [LNB]The planned stadium, the naming rights of which could have earned the club some £6 million a year to part-fund the project, was set to cost Everton £78 million, with the supermarket giant due to provide some £52 million of funding. The project, though, has been dogged by controversy, with fans opposed to moving the club four miles from its current Goodison Park home and concerns over transportation links to the site. [LNB]Everton announced their intention to move to the Kirkby site in 2007, after seeing two previous plans fail to come to fruition, but despite approval from Knowsley council, the project was called to a public inquiry by the Government last year, a decision the club described as 'disappointing.' [LNB]The Kirkby Stadium may have formed part of Liverpool's bid to be a host city for the 2018 World Cup, though it is believed Liverpool's proposed stadium on Stanley Park, boasting a larger capacity, would have been given priority should it be built in time.[LNB]
