Villa Park Redevelopment

[FatSam]

If it is about filling in the corners and expanding backwards, then work wouldn't necessarily be limited to starting in summer 2026 - they could get it underway after this summer's concerts, assuming any development is covered by the planning permission already in place.  It certainly feels like something bigger is happening than just a reclad, and the radio silence approach is just how the club operate under Heck - nothing will be publicised until it's a done deal (although apropos of nothing, from the fanzone on Saturday we did see Heck walk past with someone, and he was pointing directly and gesturing at the gap between the Trinity and North Stands as he was talking).

I'm no expert so I could be wrong but I'm sure I've read somewhere that Planning Permission has an expiry date, but if you have visibly started the work that the planning permission doesn't expire.  So it might be a case of a way for the club to stop the planning permission expiring so if we decide to recommence then we won't have to go through the planning process again.

Yes, planning permissions expire after 3 years unless a meaningful start has been made onsite. What constitutes a meaningful start is often argued about, however, all pre-commencement conditions would need to have been discharged before any start can be made onsite. I haven't checked online to see what pre-commencement conditions there are, and whether or not they've been discharged. Subject to the costs involved with discharging the conditions, it would normally be sensible to secure the permission by making a meaningful start onsite to buy yourself more time.

[London Villan]

The planning permission relates to a very different reconstruction though - if the rumours are true.

[FatSam]

It does have a date you have to start by, but once its granted, even if it expires, the hard work has been done when you do want to start

In this case, as the principles of the development have all been established (with the possible exception of travel/ station upgrades), submitting a planning application after the original  permission has lapsed should be just a case of updating surveys/ reports etc. However, planning policies and other regulations are subject to change, and sometimes the regulatory landscape has changed to the extent that a project needs to be re-designed. The costs involved with a project of this scale quite often justify fairly substantial re-design between the original planning consent and construction anyway. You see changes in approach (new design teams etc.) for a lot of these stadium projects along the way.

[FatSam]

The planning permission relates to a very different reconstruction though - if the rumours are true.

Yes, making alterations to the existing stand wouldn't constitute a meaningful start onsite in relation to the planning permission for the demolition and complete redevelopment of the stand.

[Villan82]

This thread is 4 years old today, it was started by Ads as there was a BBC article saying that the intention is to redevelop Villa Park for any potential World Cup 2030 bid.  Naturally it got most of us excited, but sadly 4 years on, we seemed to be as far away as ever from seeing a redevelopment. There was a FAB meeting on 24 February, but if it was raised then, we certainly would of heard something by now.

I wish Heck had some basic understanding of how much people were looking forward to this redevelopment, how well it had been articulated by his predecessor, and how inadequate his 'explanation' as to why it didn't go ahead was.

[London Villan]

He was mooching around the new tent in the Trinity on Friday night - I was tempted to tell him!

[PeterWithe]

Contractors are now digging up parts of the NS car park now, apparently looking for pipework.

I wonder what the plans are?

[FatSam]

Contractors are now digging up parts of the NS car park now, apparently looking for pipework.

I wonder what the plans are?

That's probably just be drainage and/ or utilities connections for the Warehouse.

[Hookeysmith]

Contractors are now digging up parts of the NS car park now, apparently looking for pipework.

I wonder what the plans are?

New pipework?

[PeterWithe]

Contractors are now digging up parts of the NS car park now, apparently looking for pipework.

I wonder what the plans are?

That's probably just be drainage and/ or utilities connections for the Warehouse.

Ok makes sense.

I suppose I'm thinking/hoping that there must be some plans afoot, and I recall someone saying that one of the reasons we couldn't build above the NS whilst its still in use was that all the utilities etc came in that end. I hoped that if they were digging them up then a work around was being looked at.

[VILLA MOLE]

I am surprised the North Stand Redevelopment is still on the Website ?

[Dante Lavelli]

I am surprised the North Stand Redevelopment is still on the Website ?

Wasn’t the whole development somewhat subject to the council sorting out Witton Station?  Leaving it up implies we are still waiting for them to fulfil their part of the deal rather than us changing our minds.

[paul_e]

I am surprised the North Stand Redevelopment is still on the Website ?

Wasn’t the whole development somewhat subject to the council sorting out Witton Station?  Leaving it up implies we are still waiting for them to fulfil there part of the deal rather than us changing our minds.

and the official stance on it is that it's been paused not cancelled so the plans will just stay there until something new gets announced.

[Tuscans]

https://x.com/AVFCOfficial/status/1897694162519986587

Bronze statue of a lion going up somewhere?

[LeeB]

https://x.com/AVFCOfficial/status/1897694162519986587

Bronze statue of a lion going up somewhere?

Usually one each side of the drive on a modest semi-detached and some off coloured double glazing.