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No
new homes, no new stadium...
MARLOW Football Club will not be able to have its proposed new stadium unless a homes plan on its current site also gets approved, it has been revealed.
This comes after Little Marlow Parish Council's meeting on Tuesday where William Northcroft, chairman of the Little Marlow Residents Association, called for clarity over the plans.
He asked the council whether the proposed stadium, in the Little Mar-low gravel pits site, would depend on the homes plan being approved.
The football club is planning to submit its proposal for a new stadium in the green belt on November 30, and an application for 80 homes on its current Oaktree Road site will follow suit. This is because it hopes to exchange plots with sponsor North West Estates, which owns land in the gravel pits, and would ultimately be building the housing development.
The council was unsure of the answer to Mr Northcroft's question, but. the Free Press has since spoken to a club spokesman who has said the stadium is dependent on the housing plan.
This would mean that if the stadium plan is approved but the homes plan rejected, parties would be sent back to the drawing board.
The spokesman said: "One is depending on the other but if they approve the stadium and reject the homes that would be irrational."
The club confirmed that it will still receive a sum of money for the land exchange, because its land is worth more than the gravel pits plot.
Cllr Barbara Wallis told the meeting that developers had agreed to meet parish councillors about the plans, but only in private. She said
this was disappointing, but the council might be able to invite some people along with them. She said an environmental impact assessment was also being conducted but this might only be published once the stadium application is submitted.
The council has drawn up a list of questions for the club, following the publication of the Marlow Goal information booklet, which was only sent out to 7,000 homes. The council said it was disappointed that not all residents had received a copy.
Dallas Banfield, chairman, said: "'We are not happy this was not made available to all the residents because this has set the tone for the level of consultation."
However, the council has agreed it will not register any views on the plans until they are submitted.
By Nic Bnmetti nbrunetti@loniiori newsquest co.uk
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