The redevelopment of Old Trafford into a 100,000-seat 'Wembley of the North' has reportedly stalled
The redevelopment could bring in £7.3b a year to the economy
(Image: PA)
‘Compulsory purchase powers’ could be used by Andy Burnham’s office to resolve an impasse in land negotiations around the Old Trafford redevelopment.
Manchester United want to demolish their existing 74,310-capacity home and replace it with ‘the Wembley of the North’ — a 100,000-seat stadium featuring three 200m-tall masts, at a cost of £2 billion.
But the redevelopment has reportedly stalled due to a stand-off of the value of land nearby. For United’s dreams to become reality, they need to buy a rail freight terminal next door.
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Its owners, Freightliner, are open to moving operations out to ILP North, a new depot planned for the border of Warrington, St Helens, and Wigan 17 miles away.
However, Freightliner values the land next to Old Trafford at £400 million whereas the club believe it is only worth a tenth of that, at between £40-50m, according to The Guardian.
Mayor Andy Burnham is a supporter of the project, believing the larger stadium will bring in more money to Greater Manchester’s economy, a proposed neighbourhood around it will provide much-needed housing, and moving the rail depot will take freight trains away from Manchester city centre, freeing up tracks for more passenger services.
He established a mayoral development corporation (MDC) earlier this year to oversee the work, which has ‘compulsory purchase powers if needed’, the mayor revealed on Thursday (August 7).
A conceptual image of what the new Manchester United stadium could look like has received comparisons to a circus big top tent
A conceptual image of what the new stadium could look like
“The GMCA has approved the establishment of a mayoral development corporation (MDC) to oversee a masterplan of the area to facilitate some of the land assembly,” he said on BBC Radio Manchester.
“That’s just getting going. That MDC has compulsory purchase powers if needed. There’s plenty that can be done if an agreement cannot be reached.”
However, he stressed talks between the Red Devils and Freightliner ‘are in the early stages’ and ‘they are far from being concluded’.
He added: “The real action is only going to get going in the autumn with the MDC.”
When the designs were unveiled in March, architect Lord Norman Foster claimed the new stadium could be built in as little as five years due to ‘pre-fabrication’, with some parts being built off site before being transported to Old Trafford.
The brains behind the new Wembley explained: “By using the network of Manchester Ship Canal, bringing it back to a new life, shipping in components — 160 of them, Meccano-like.”