Selhurst Park scheme recommended for approval for the second time four years after it was first OK’d
Crystal Palace FC’s £100m plans to expand its Selhurst Park stadium are heading back into the planning process more than four years after the scheme was first approved.
Revised KSS-designed proposals to boost capacity at the ground from 26,000 to 34,000 have been recommended for approval at Croydon council’s planning committee on Thursday evening.
It will be the latest chapter in the troubled planning history of the club’s plans to expand its 1924 base with a new five-storey stand.
If given the nod, the scheme will then head to the Greater London Authority for the second time to be signed off by London mayor Sadiq Khan.
This process took two and a half years after the original planning application was approved unanimously by councillors in April 2018, with Khan only rubber stamping the scheme in September 2020.
However, it was never given the final sign off by the council off as the Section 106 agreement was not signed by the club. A new permission is now required due to changes in council policy since 2018, including the adoption of a new London plan in March 2021.
The planning officer’s updated report said KSS’ plans were of “exemplar design” and would form a new landmark which would make a positive contribution to the character and appearance of the area.
The report also outlined changes to the original application, including alterations to ground floor entrances, an additional lift and partitions to lobbies.
The landscaping and public realm has also been rejigged, and all heating in the building will now be provided by air source heat pumps instead of gas boilers.
Other work set to be carried out at Selhurst Park includes construction of 24,500sq m new internal floor space beneath the expanded main stand and a 550sq m restaurant and retail unit.
The football pitch will be lengthened from 101m to 105m and an accessible seating area will be created within the Whitehorse Lane Stand, resulting in spectator capacity there falling by 690.
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