Stockport's £50M Stadium Expansion Approved Despite Wildlife Protests

A £50MILLION stadium expansion for Stockport County has been given the green light following a battle with campaigners.

The League One club has been given approval by the local council to almost double the capacity of Edgeley Park.

3 Stockport County have been given planning permission for a £50million stadium upgrade Credit: Shutterstock Editorial

3 The expanded stadium will see the capacity almost double Credit: Stockport County

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An extra 7,400 seats will be added to the ground, taking the total capacity up to 18,000.

A crunch meeting at the town hall on August 14 saw councillors rule in support of the stadium expansion which will also introduce a new east and south stand.

This came despite opposition from the Edgeley Wildlife Group, who wanted the club to change part of the project to build a car park behind the south stand on an area of natural green land.

Edgeley councillor Asa Caton backed the plans, proclaiming it would bring more money into the area.

He said: "As a councillor I have to strike a balance between environmental protection and development that brings clear socio-economic benefits .

"I have listened to the objections from the Edgeley Wildlife Reserve group but to me the balance is in favour of development because of the benefits it's going to bring to Edgeley and across Stockport."

Cllr Steve Gribbon, planning chairman, added: "If you put something in which is going to be a structure of meaning then people are going to want to be part of it and I think this is going to be a good thing for the town centre.”

The Hatters have enjoyed a steady rise back up the football pyramid in recent years.

They fell as low as the National League North following three relegations in four seasons between 2010 and 2013.

However, since 2019 they have slowly climbed back into the EFL before returning to League One in 2024 for the first time since 2008.

Plans to expand the club's stadium were initially announced in 2022, with 96 per cent of fans supporting the overarching vision for the expansion.

The works will be completed across a number of phases, starting with the eastern side of the North Stand increasing by 600 seats.

This will be followed by the East Stand seeing an increase to 4,500 seats and then the South Stand going up to 5,500.

The final phase will then see the western section of the North Stand expand by a further 600 seats.

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