On Thursday, December 5, Hounslow Council’s Planning Committee approved Brentford Football Club’s planning application to develop a 20,000 capacity stadium at Lionel Road South together with other community facilities, and 910 new homes, a hotel and supporting retail uses.
This major development will provide a sports and community stadium together with new homes, public transport improvements and enhancements to the public realm.
The development will bring a great deal of new business and job and training opportunities for local people.
It will enable the Club to build a new home on Lionel Road South that will also be a base for Brentford FC Community Sports Trust and the Learning Zone.
After the meeting, many of the key figures spoke to Bees Player.
Their reaction can be seen here and a selection is available on the Club’s YouTube channel here.
Brian Burgess and Chris Gammon, Executive Directors of Lionel Road Developments Limited
BB: “It is a big step forward.
“If someone had said ten years ago we’d be standing here celebrating an approval decision, we would have felt we were dreaming.
“We are aware there is a hell of a lot to do.
“It is another step on a long road.”
CG: “We need approval from the Mayor of London and Secretary of State.
“We need to tie up deals with out developer, Network Rail and other commercial parties.
“There is work to do but this is a big step forward.”
BB: “In 2002 I approach John McGlashan, then Chairman of Bees United, and asked what I could do.
“He said there was a secret plan for a stadium at Lionel Road that Ron Noades, then owner, did not know about.
“I went to see him, he explained the idea and I felt we needed a business plan.
“Someone introduced me to Chris.
“Chris’ expertise has been invaluable through the Trust takeover, developing the stadium project refinancing with Matthew Benham.
“He is the best signing the Club has ever made; we couldn’t have done it without him.”
CG: “I wrote the original business plan in March 2003.
“It has been a long time.
“I have been sucked in by what is happening at Brentford and the community spirit at the Club.
“It has been an interesting journey, lots of highs and lows.
“Tonight is a high.”
BB: “I have never doubted it would happen.”
CG: “There was always a doubt about the timescale.
“We got credit crunched when we had a deal with Barratt Homes.
“Maybe we were lucky, who knows what would have happened.
“The time is right now, we have a supportive owner, a supportive council and a bunch of fans that are supportive.”
BB: “This would just not have happened without Club Owner Matthew Benham.
“The fans came in numbers and were so well behaved.
“It was exemplary.”
CG: “The support in the community has been proven tonight.
“We couldn't have done it without Community Sports Trust Chief Executive Lee Doyle and his team.
“They have carved such a reputation and it helps out Brentford on the map.
“The fans and Lee’s team have been vital.”
Brentford FC Chairman Cliff Crown
“I am absolutely delighted.
“We came to the meeting concerned about the people we knew were against the motion.
“It has been almost five hours of listening to people talk, questions and answers and we are relieved the result was in our favour.
“We can’t sustain the business and the Club at Griffin Park in the 21st century.
“We need a purpose built stadium with a larger capacity where we can get more revenue.
“If we do that we can be sustainable.
“Matthew Benham is delighted; he knows how hard we have all worked to achieve this.
“None of it would have been possible without his financial support.
“For that, we are all extremely grateful.
“We have done a lot of work on the sums; we are relatively comfortable we can make this work.
“Matthew will need to put more money in but we think the result is achievable and we look forward to getting this built.
“I feel fantastic at the moment, that I have been fortunate enough to be Chairman when this has come through.
“I can’t take much of the credit; it belongs to people like Brian Burgess and Chris Gammon, who have worked tirelessly on this project for 11 years.
“They are the guys that should take all the credit, along with Matthew, without his financial support this would not be possible.”
Club Director Donald Kerr, who is also a Director of Lionel Road Developments Limited
“I got involved in the project when I put myself up for election to the Board of Bees United, the Supporters’ Trust.
“I was elected and the Trust had to have someone on the Lionel Road Board.
“I was available and got involved.
“It has become a combined effort, I was reporting back to the Club Board with Brian Burgess.
“I trailed Brian, helping where I could in the community.
“This is one of the biggest nights I have known.
“I have been supporting the Club for 35 years and this is the biggest result we have had in the last ten years.
“We have had Lionel Road on the horizon for ten years, now we have it.
“We owe a huge debt to the work of the Community Sports Trust.
“We looked to the Trust and asked them to put together how much they do.
“We could show the council what they do.
“That has worked to counterbalance some of the things that are more harmful about the development.”
Lee Doyle, Chief Executive of Brentford Football Club Community Sports Trust
“At the moment we are not in the stadium.
“There are a couple more steps to go but we are looking forward to linking back up and becoming a community hub.
“The new stadium will have great facilities and we can link in to Gunnersbury Park and our Boating Arch at Kew Bridge.
“The Learning Zone and Interim Education Centre will be inspiring spaces and we can inspire people in there.
“It gives us a new avenue to look at and be creative.
“We know what we do.
“We are confident in what we provide.
“There has been a formal community programme for more than 25 years and because we are specialists in what we do, using sport as an instrument for positive change, we are excited and looking forward to doing more.
“A new stadium will mean a new level of interest, a generation of new supporters.
“We can interact daily and create new partnerships.
“The link between the Trust and the Club is stronger than ever.
“It just happens we are off site.
“If they come together there is an opportunity to give partners and sponsors a profile on and off the pitch.
“That makes interaction a lot easier, if you are in one place.
“I am tremendously proud of what has happened tonight.
“I first came to Brentford when I was in primary school; my friend was the son of Bobby Ross.
“I never dreamed I would work at the Club but I loved football and loved to coach and had an idea of how we could build things.
“It has been brilliant that we have built a team of community staff.
“What we do is credit to them.
“We have created something we are very proud of.”
Mark Devlin, Chief Executive of Brentford FC
“I want to say big thanks and a huge credit to all the project team.
“They have done an immense amount of work since I have been at the Club.
“Also to the fans groups, who worked alongside the Club to get so many supporters here tonight.
“The supporters themselves behaved with such credit.
“It is a huge night for the Club, one of the biggest, if not the biggest milestone in the Club’s history.
“From a practical point of view we work towards how we full the stadium with new companies and new supporters.
“But this is an exciting challenge.
“It is about how we grow.
“When I arrived it was clear this was a key event for the Club’s future but it looked as if we may not be able to purchase the site.
“We had to think where else we could go.
“There was nowhere else in the borough and we wanted to keep the Club in Brentford.
“The new stadium project was one of the things that attracted me to the job but it looked as if we were going nowhere.
“The people who owned the site were not willing to site.
“All of a sudden it changed and we have got where we are tonight.
“There has been fantastic work from everyone involved.
“I am elated, delighted for the supporters.
“There will be a few who do not want to leave Griffin Park for nostalgic reasons.
“As a football fan I understand we get attached to our stadium but the overwhelming majority will see that if we want the Club to grow and sustain itself in the top two divisions, this stadium will give us a chance.
“It is key to not lose what makes Brentford special when we move to a new site."