Henryhornchurch

[Henry hornchurch]

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Grays Athletic this morning shared an article from a local news site which floats the idea of the club being 'gifted' the former Thurrock FC stadium at Ship Lane- so long as a company who want to develop land around the stadium are given planning permission.

The article suggests that the company in question, named as Group 1 Automotive, would like to build a car preparation site on land adjacent to the stadium. If they were to get the go-ahead then they would then 'gift' the stadium to Athletic, as well as offering the local authority half a million pounds to "improve football pitch provision at Thurrock Council’s Belhus Park," which is found in nearby Aveley.

The new application apparently offers:

• The gifting of Thurrock Football Club to a third party to ensure its use for community football in perpetuity;

• A financial contribution of £500,000 made to Thurrock Council for improvement of existing football pitch provision at Belhus Park, Aveley;

• New access to include a HGV turnaround which will provide road traffic benefits to help reduce/prevent HGVs travelling through Aveley village;

• The introduction of a new international company to Thurrock Borough Council;

• The creation of up to 30 new jobs; and

• New landscaping in order improve views across to the Stadium from the Mar Dyke footpath.

You can read more here, and view the planning application and consultation here.

The last competitive match played at Ship Lane was a one-nil win for Thurrock against Kingstonian on April 21st 2018. Lewwis Spence scored that final goal.

 

IMG-RES.PITCHERO.COM

img-res.pitchero.com

 

[MikeMike]

Ah, good memories of Ship Lane. 
Glad to read that she may one day host football matches again.

[Old Codger]

Hmm, might be OK short term but the ground is in the middle of nowhere and Grays Athletic's intention has always been to move back into the town itself so that it has a proper local identity.

Might as well call themselves M25/A13 United if they stay at at Ship Lane long term.

There are huge numbers of objections to the development due to traffic issues and the like so the whole development may never take place.

Interesting though.