Planning Officers recommend approval of Spurs' extra Wembley games

Brent Planning Officers have recommended that the January 16th Planning Committee LINK approves the application for Spurs to hold eight additional matches at Wembley Stadium between January 15th and May 12th if their new stadium is not ready. Five of the games would be capped at 62,000 and three at 90,000. Neither Brent Council, nor Quintain have been willing to comment to Wembley Matters on how these extra games would impact on the plans to remove the Stadium pedway and replace  with steps before Euro2020. LINK

Submissions from residents were 30 to 1 objecting. No submissions were received from  Barry Gardiner MP, Barnhill Residents' Association or Wembley Stadium Residents Advisory Committee. I can find no record of comments from Tokyngton Ward councillors that include Council Leader Muhammed Butt.

Wembley Central and Alperton Residents' Association acknowledged the economic benefits but stipulated that should permission be granted the sporting events should not be carried over for other events if Spurs return to their new stadium.

This is the officers' conclusion after considering the issues in detail:

The objections received indicate that there is a level of impact currently experienced by events at the stadium from Spurs matches. These mostly relate to anti-social behaviour and transport. Some impacts are expected, as it is a large stadium in a location with residents and businesses nearby. 

Additional events, limited to a capacity of 51,000, can take place at the stadium irrespective of the outcome of the application. 

The original cap on events was imposed to manage the impacts until such time as specific transport improvements had been made. Whilst most of these have taken place, not all of them have been realised. Circumstances have changed since the original planning permission in 2002, which suggest that the final piece of transport infrastructure (the Stadium Access Corridor) will not be provided in the originally envisaged form, but other changes to the road network are now envisaged. A further change is the level of development within the area, which has increased the population and will continue to do so. Therefore, the Council considers that the cap remains relevant. 

Clearly, to increase the number of events to accommodate Tottenham Hotspur would imply a commensurate increase in the impact, albeit that it is proposed to be temporary and only in relation to 8 games. 

In analysing the impacts there has been some concern about the level of economic benefit which would result, and this is primarily centred on visitor expenditure. In any event it seems common sense that there would be winners and losers on event days, dependent on the type of business. This makes it all the more important that the social impacts on event days are further mitigated. A number of additional measures have been secured to deal with some of these issues. 

Transportation issues have been extensively raised, and there are ongoing efforts to reduce the number of vehicles on a match day. A number of mitigation measures are proposed to continue this work. Some of these allow for existing work to continue, and others are new or updated. The pirate parking initiative is considered particularly important. On an individual event basis, Tottenham Hotspur do have the ability to influence their supporters’ behaviour over the course of a season, which is more difficult than for visitors on a one-off basis such as the FA Cup final. Addressing transport issues will also contribute to reducing noise and air quality issues. 

In summary, it is recognised that there is a level of impact being caused by major events now, and that this would increase with an increase in the number of high capacity major events. However, the measures proposed would ensure that this is mollified as much as is reasonably achievable. All are considered necessary to mitigate the increased number of matches which this application proposes. A further consideration is that Tottenham Hotspur could use the stadium for major events up to 51,000 now without restriction, and were they to do that then no additional mitigation measures would be formally secured. 

The proposed additional mitigation would apply to Tottenham Hotspur events, and with some of these being within the existing cap would represent a theoretical improvement for these major events. 

The proposal is, on balance, recommended for approval.

Spurs ask for up to 17 games at Wembley Stadium as contingency to May 2019 - so what about the steps project?

Wembley National Stadium Limited has applied to Brent Council for permission for Tottenham Hotspur to hold up to 17 games at the stadium between January and May 2019.  They emphasise that this is a contingency plan as completion of Spurs' new stadium is awaited.

10 of the games would be up to 62,000 capacity and 7 at full capacity.

Consultation on the application closes on December 19th 2019.

The application can be found HERE

An obvious question is how this will affect the replacement of the stadium pedway by steps which was already a very tight schedule. Work will not take place on event days so if option takes up the contingency the project will lose 17 of the 87 days scheduled for completion of the scheme.

Unfortunately the Site Management Plan for the steps project is no longer available on the Brent Council website. LINK

The pre-planning advice offered by Alice Lester, Brent Head of Planning has been redacted. I wonder if this referred to the steps?

Will Spurs' stadium safety woes stop Quintain meeting Euro 2020 deadline for installation of the Wembley Stadium steps?

I understand that doubts are developing over whether Quintain will be able to deliver the Stadium Steps that will replace the Pedway in time for the first Wembley Euro 2020 game scheduled for June 14th 2020. It was also hoped that they would be in place for Brent's Borough of Culture 2020. LINK

It is feared that the already tight timetable will be adversely affected if Tottenham Hotspur's move to their new stadium is further delayed and their use of Wembley Stadium pushes into 2019.

The Independent reported today on the Spurs delays LINK:

Tottenham Hotspur are facing another crunch week in their attempts to move into the new White Hart Lane before Christmas.

Tottenham are currently aiming to move into the new 61,000 seater stadium for their match against Burnley on 15 December, three months after the initial target of the Liverpool game on 15 September. But they will only be able to do so if they can complete crucial work on the stadium’s fire safety systems in time for the two test events they have planned.

Before the Burnley game Tottenham have ‘home’ matches against Chelsea on Saturday 24 November and Southampton on 5 December. Those matches are officially listed as occurring at the new White Hart Lane but Tottenham are expected this week to announce that they will also be switched to Wembley, where Spurs have been playing their ‘home’ games since the start of last season. Tottenham insist that nothing has been decided yet, but that it will be announced as soon as they know.

After the Chelsea and Southampton fixtures are confirmed as moved focus will be on whether the new stadium will be ready for a pre-Christmas opening. Before the stadium can open it must receive its safety certificates, which Haringey Council will only grant after two successful test events. The first test event – pencilled in for late November – would be for a capacity of up to 30,000 people. The second, which Spurs hoped to be in early December, would be for a capacity of up to 48,000.

But those test events cannot take place until the safety systems are ready. Daniel Levy told a meeting of the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters Trust earlier this month that the stadium would have been ready for the Liverpool game were it not for the safety issues. The view at Tottenham is that the Liverpool game was a realistic target, but that they have been let down by certain contractors.

Ultimately Tottenham do not have to tell the Football Association whether they will need Wembley for the Burnley game until early next month. But if they do not open the new ground with that match then they may delay the opening until the arrival of Manchester United on 13 January. Spurs are due to host Bournemouth on Boxing Day and Wolverhampton Wanderers on 29 December, although there is a reluctance inside the club to open the new stadium for either of those games because of the logistical concerns associated with that time of year.

Spurs help tackle a load of rubbish in Wembley

Gary Mabbutt gets down to work (Picture: Tottenham Hotspurs)

From Keep Wembley Tidy and Wembley Central and Alperton Resdients' Association

As part of Spurs commitment to the London Borough of Brent during its season playing at Wembley, Club Ambassador Gary Mabbutt joined volunteers from Keep Wembley Tidy (KWT)/Wembley Central & Alperton Residents Association (WCARA) and Alperton Community School to help pick up litter around the streets of Wembley.

Keep Wembley Tidy and WCARA are volunteer groups formed by residents to encourage the community to work together for a cleaner, greener, safer area in which to live. Both organisations are working with Brent Council to encourage residents to join community clean‐ups which are being organised as part of the ‘Love Where You Live’ campaign. The campaign calls upon Brent residents to show their love for local areas by taking small steps to create a cleaner and greener environment.

Kay Carroll, volunteer resident, said:

Our dedicated volunteers work tirelessly collecting litter and reporting fly-tipping hot sports. Each litter pick we collect 20-30 bags of waste comprising of beer cans and bottles, fast food packaging and confectionary wrappers. We have recently formed WCARA with a wider remit than KWT, and we are keener than ever to clean up our local area. We would like to thank Gary Mabbutt and Tottenham Hotspur for their support in today’s litter pick.

Gary Mabbutt said:

Looking after the area you live in and helping the environment is something we should all take pride in. With Wembley being the Club’s home for this season, I am pleased to have been able to offer a helping hand to help keep the area tidier.

 Keep Wembley Tidy and WCARA would also like to thank Lee Meaden and Milko from Veolia, who kindly donated litter pickers, bags and gloves to the resident group. Their staff also arranged for the prompt collection of bags of rubbish after the event. 

Spurs have recently announced that it will be sourcing more environmentally sustainable alternatives to single-use plastic and will continue to do so as part of its commitment to phasing out single-use plastics from all operations. The Club will not be stocking plastic straws, stirrers, cutlery and all plastic disposably packaging that accompanies these items.

This is why we don't want Chelsea to follow Spurs to Wembley Stadium

Fans doing battle at Wembley - special report on the cost of policing football in London | By @AmyLewisITV pic.twitter.com/0urhZaf0Og

— ITV London (@itvlondon) April 24, 2018

Hurry to tell the FA about how Spurs at Wembley has impacted on you

From Danes and Empire Court Residents' Association

We have been asked by the FA to provide feedback to a study they are conducting on the impact of Wembley Stadium, and of Spurs on the local area, London and the Nation. Specifically, they would like input on the questions below, so please provide your feedback AS SOON AS POSSIBLE (i.e. before Friday) as we will be meeting at this point.

What are the positive and negative impacts of Wembley on local residents and local businesses, and your views on the impacts of Wembley stadium with a focus on Tottenham Hotspur, and whether there have been any positive or negative developments as a result of the increased occupation?

What has been done since the start of the season to address any negative issues and how that has worked out?

What future initiatives you would like to see in place for the benefits of local stakeholders?

Answer the Questions HERE before Friday 13^th April.

Incidentally this is a comment on the Stadium made in 1986 by a nine year old as part of the Domes Day project (see side panel):

Sometimes I hate Wembley Stadium  because when there is an event like a match on there are nearly always hooligans hanging about.   I live near the Stadium and nearly  every Saturday there’s a match on and lots of people hang about the “Harrow   Tavern”, which is a public house in  front of our house.  I hope that Wembley Stadium buy  security cameras to catch all the hooligans.   The time when I like Wembley is when   there are no hooligans and the match is a friendly game. Concerts like the Live Aid one are held there as well. Next to Wembley Stadium, in the car park, there is a market which is held every Sunday. H.P.( Aged 9yrs)

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Double Whammy Wembley Works

With road works now taking place outside Wembley Central station as well as on Wembley High Road outside the Brent House building site, residents are getting increasingly frustrated as tailbacks develop. Things were not looking great for this evening with wet roads, two sets of works and Spurs playing Brighton!

Brent Council has responded to a resident by setting out the latest position regarding the works:

The works near Wembley Central Station are been undertaken by UK Power Networks (UKPN), these works are urgent because there has been an intermittent power failure which has affected up to seventy five shops along the High Road.

Originally, the footway opposite Wembley Central Station was closed and two new temporary pedestrian crossings were placed either side of the excavation so that pedestrians could safely navigate their way around the closed footway. Unfortunately, pedestrians were not using this facility, instead, pedestrians were walking in live traffic lanes which is clearly unacceptable. The only safe option was provide a safe pedestrian walkway in the carriageway and control traffic with two way temporary signals, the carriageway at this location was not considered wide enough to accommodate two way traffic and a pedestrian walkway.

I have been to site this morning and we have instructed UKPN to back fill and open the footway and open the carriageway to normal two way traffic, this should be in place for the evening rush hour.

There is still a fault on the cable and UKPN will need to undertake more works at this location, where possible these works will be planned to occur in non-traffic sensitive times only.

I can assure you that all planned works have been postponed until after the sewer works are complete but emergency works cannot be postponed.

The Torch reviews security for Tottenham home games

Spurs fans at the Torch in April for the FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea

I understand that the Torch Pub is to review its security for Tottenham home games following skirmishes in the pub and outside at the weekend.

The Torch management company are meeting today with Brent Council officials and the police.

The pub is designated a 'Tottenham' venue for home games and fans have adopted it as their own. I understand that locals were refused entry at the weekend for their own protection.

Spurs planning application for Wembley Stadium now open for comments

Click on image to enlarge

The application to increase the number of event days at Wembley Stadium and to increase the number of full capacity events has now been published on the Brent Council website.  Full documentation can be accessed and comments made. LINK

I was interested in the fact (see image above) that no local residents in the neighbourhood, nor residents' associations or other organisations, schools etc have been directly written to with a 'unique letter' about the plans.  Consultation with them seems to be limited to a presentation at Wembley Connects, a poorly advertised and attended event at Chalkhill Community Centre on Monday, and an advertisement in the Kilburn Times.

The proposal in summary is:

[Previously] the number of major sporting events held at the stadium in any one year was restricted to no more than 22 (to exclude European Cup and World Cup events where England/UK is the host nation), and the number of major non-sporting events to 15. After this, additional events over and above this were permitted subject to the number of spectators being limited to the capacity of the lower and middle tiers of the stadium.

The proposal would allow for up to an additional 31 major sporting Tottenham Hotspur Football Club (THFC) events between 1 August 2017 and 31 July 2018. A major event (which may or may not include THFC) would be considered to be an event in the stadium bowl with a capacity in excess of 10,000 people.

Spurs set out their responses to concerns about the application in their 'Statement of Community Engagement' which addresses issues such as urinating in public, obscene and racist chants, congestion, pay back for residents. I have embedded it below for ease of reference. In particular see pages 5-9. The current 'standard' expiry date for consultation is February 23rd 2017.



There is an ongoing discussion about the application on the Streetlife website LINK