East Marsh stadium? It's win-win for club and community

by Nigel Lowther

27 November 2015

In a comment piece written for the Cleethorpes Chronicle, its editor and joint owner Nigel Lowther argues that a new stadium on the East Marsh would be a huge opportunity for regeneration

Grimsby Docks at dusk

It is encouraging to see North East Lincolnshire Council taking a proactive stance on a new ground for the football club.

I am biased. I am a proud season ticket holder and have been going to Blundell Park for more than 40 years.

That the club needs a new football stadium should never have been in doubt. But the council has to follow due process and that's happening. I first reported on proposals for a new stadium more than 20 years ago – a few extra months is not going to make any difference.

The next stage is crucial – where should a new stadium be sited? The football club's favoured site is Peaks Parkway. My view – outlined in the Cleethorpes Chronicle on a couple of occasions – is different. While, of course, a new stadium anywhere would be welcome, the project offers a wonderful opportunity to create a regeneration scheme that would benefit the whole of North East Lincolnshire, not just Grimsby Town's fanbase. Self-interest needs to be put to one side.

The Freeman Street area's inclusion on the shortlist of six possible sites is to be welcomed; likewise the one in the heart of the West Marsh. I understand why a petition has already been launched on the East Marsh against a football stadium but I fear those behind it do so from a naive standpoint, blind to the regeneration potential.

Successive councils have relaid pavements in Freeman Street and changed the lamp-posts. We need to think big, really bigSuccessive councils have relaid pavements in Freeman Street and changed the lamp-posts. It comes as no surprise that its deep-rooted deprivation issues remain. Vision and imagination have not been at the fore when it comes to sorting out the East Marsh.

We need to think big, really big. Imagine a football stadium as a significant but ultimately small part of a regeneration project.

Send in the bulldozers, not just on the flats but also Freeman House and its associated block of (boarded-up) shops on Freeman Street. Then, put in and around a stadium offices and community facilities that would be the workplaces for thousands.

New municipal offices – desperately needed by the council but difficult to justify on expenditure grounds – could be under one stand. A renewables centre, with direct links to the North Wall of the docks, part of another. What about business incubation units, encouraging entrepreneurship, under a third stand? Combined with the club's plans for community development, a thriving hub would be created. Around it, shops, bars and cafes would spring up to serve that marketplace.

Such ambitious regeneration would be inspiring and aspiring. In terms of its feasibility, it needs far cleverer people than I to look at what can be achieved.
But millions of pounds are sitting in government and European coffers, waiting for schemes that would create and secure jobs. If it was Hull, it would have been looked at long before now.

Those who say such a proposal will take too long should consider occupancy rates of the flats are less than 20 per cent and demolition, I understand, is due to take place in 2017, giving time for bids to be developed and monies to be put in place.
A project this exciting would be worth the wait.

The challenge is for everybody – the football club, politicians and community leaders – to grasp the opportunity. Don't talk about problems, sort out solutions. Don't look back, focus on the future. It's a once-in-a-generation chance to resolve issues that have been around for decades – the regeneration of the East Marsh, new council offices and a football stadium.

Senior figures have told me they can see the potential. What's needed is the leadership, drive and ambition to deliver.

Who's up for the challenge?