Villa Park redevelopment: New Aston Villa proposals explained and …
Aston Villa[1] presented their revised plans for phase one of the redevelopment of Villa Park during a public consultation this week, following a review of the original proposed scheme.
Club owners Nassef Sawiris[2] and Wes Edens[3] are fully committed to delivering a plan which will establish Villa Park as a world-class sporting and entertainment destination in the coming years, but after planning approval was granted by Birmingham City Council[4] in December 2022, Villa intend to make a modest number of changes to their proposals.
Here are the takeaways from the club's public consultation, which was held at Villa Park...
READ | Luiz reflects on 'best' Villa season, Emery progress and Gerrard struggles[5]
READ | Villa transfer round-up: Barnes and Johnson interest, Torres latest[6]
NORTH STAND REBUILD
In April 2022, former CEO Christian Purslow announced the club’s plans to redevelop Villa Park across several phases. Phase one centres around a complete rebuild of the North Stand and a construction of a much larger structure to house over 7,300 extra seats to take Villa Park’s capacity beyond 50,000.
In November, Villa Park was shortlisted in the UK and Ireland's bid to host the UEFA EURO 2028 Championship, a month before Villa were then granted planning permission for the expansion of their stadium. The club plans to demolish the North Stand following the Foo Fighters gig at Villa Park on Thursday, June 27, 2024.
Prior to the stand being demolished, up to seven months of preparation is needed to divert new drains, high voltage electrics and matchday safety systems, while hundreds of cables will also need to be replaced for broadcasting. It’s a huge undertaking before Villa can even begin building a completely new stand.
Knocking the stand down is viewed as the most efficient way to deliver a new North Stand, instead of building it behind the current structure, like other clubs have done across England in recent years. Building a new stand behind the current North Stand would prevent construction workers from accessing key areas of the build.
A general view of Villa Park's North Stand (Image: Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
The end bay of the Trinity Road Stand, which is closest to the North Stand, will also be demolished for structural reasons. Villa are planning to merge the new North Stand with the Trinity Road Stand and the Doug Ellis Stand.
Villa anticipate that the new North Stand will be built by the end of May 2026, meaning that during the 2024/25 and 2025/26 seasons, no fans will be housed behind the goal opposite the Holte End. If the UK and Ireland's bid to host UEFA EURO 2028 is successful, then the new North Stand must be complete by the end of May 2026 deadline to comply with UEFA regulations.
Villa will find out in September if their home, Villa Park, will host the European Championships as the stadium is one of ten arenas which have been put forwards as venues. Others include Wembley, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, St James’ Park in Newcastle and Hampden Park in Glasgow.
And should the UK and Ireland’s bid be successful, leader of Birmingham City Council[7] John Cotton believes it will boost the local economy by £117 million. Speaking inside the council chamber last month, Cllr Cotton said of Villa Park’s importance in hosting the European Championships in five years’ time: “I’m delighted Villa Park and the city of Birmingham have been selected by the FA to be a stadium and a host city for the UK and Ireland joint bid to host the UEFA men’s Euro 2028 tournament.
“If this bid is successful then we can expect to see tens of thousands of visitors come to this city as we host matches at the tournament. That’s a boost to our economy and, again, a further enhancement to our reputation as an international city. An early estimation of the impact of being a host city is £117.1 million which will provide an absolutely huge boost to our economy.”
ADAPTATIONS TO NORTH STAND PLANNING APPLICATION
Following a review of the original scheme, Villa now intend to accommodate the club shop and a new sports bar café into the new North Stand, which therefore requires some small design changes to the proposed new North Stand elevations, and the application will be submitted this month.
The new sports bar will be located where the North Stand merges with the Trinity Road Stand. The club plans for it to sit above the tunnel, where supporters can look down on players and get a sneak peak of preparations for the match. On a matchday, it will be used as a hospitality experience, but it will remain open to the public to be used as a sports bar a other times of the week. To meet EURO 2028 regulations, the player's area - which is also located in this part of the stadium - will be upgraded too.
Currently, there are an unnecessary amount of vomitories where the North Stand merges with the Trinity Road Stand. The team designing the new-look stand will start ‘project hoover’ to clean up what is viewed as wasted space in this area of the stadium. The ‘bowl’ design will provide a better, more dense atmosphere instead.
There will also be a jumbo screen where the North Stand meets the Trinity Road Stand, instead of it being on the opposite side.
SHOT-TERM AND LONG-TERM TRANSPORT SOLUTIONS
The club are working tirelessly in a bid to improve transport links around Villa Park. Witton station, which is among the closest to a stadium in the Premier League, was labelled “not fit for purpose” by Purslow given the lack of trains and carriages put on for fans on matchdays.
It’s understood Villa are awaiting funding from the West Midlands Combined Authority which, in 2021, funded the £30million redevelopment of Perry Barr railway station ahead of the Commonwealth Games[8].
Speaking at Birmingham City Council[9] ’s full meeting last month (June 13), councillor Lee Marsham (Nechells, Lab) put pressure on Mayor of the West Midlands, Andy Street, to stump up the millions needed to upgrade Witton Station in line with Villa’s grand plans to improve their stadium in the months and years to come.
In response, Cllr Cotton said: “Now, clearly we want visitors to have the best possible experience so improvements to Witton Station are important, not just for this tournament but for the local community and for Villa fans who are travelling for games in the future. Aston Villa is one of the city’s key anchor institutions and I met with the club officials just last week, together with the deputy leader, to discuss not just this bid but their plans moving forward. I’ve tasked officers to work closely with Aston Villa to that effect.”
Villa are receiving more complaints from fans and local residents about transport than any other issue. There are long-term and short-term solutions to dealing with the problems which the redevelopment of Villa Park faces.
It will take some time for Villa to see the benefits of their hard work in negotiations with train operators, with a lack of carriages being a key cause of frustration after a matchday. Plans are in place for Witton station to be dramatically improved, but the same issues will remain unless trains are running to and from the station more frequently.
Last season, on an average matchday, less than three trains arrived per hour, which is a major issue. There needs to be more trains coming in and out of New Street, and these plans could take years to push through.
Witton train station
Villa wants Witton station to be a hub for transport to an active lifestyle destination, which is Villa Park and its surrounding environment. The club are in constant dialogue with politicians and are lobbying at government level to find progress. There is a clear regenerative case to improve Witton station, as it will have a positive impact on the local community, even if it will be used mainly on matchdays.
In May, Villa provided additional transport to the final Premier League fixture of the season against Brighton at Villa Park. A pre-match shuttle service ran from Dudley[10] Street, near New Street Station, with buses departing at 10-minute intervals. The buses dropped fans near Aston train station, leaving supporters with a five minute walk to the stadium. Post-match suttles then ran from Grosvenor Road back to Dudley Street, with each journey costing £5.
The one-off shuttle test, which wasn’t majorly publicised at the time, attracted over 350 supporters. This is one of several short-term strategies the club could use more frequently moving forward.
Villa committed to appointing a dedicated advisor to deal with transport concerns in their planning application for phase one of the redevelopment of Villa Park. Their presence will be helpful in the coming months instead of bolting on a serious amount of work on to other employees working on the scheme.
The transport advisor has drawn up a number of short-term opportunities to ease the strain on transport problems. The main objective is to push people ‘away from the madness’ after full-time.
Around 3,000 off-street car spaces from businesses, schools and industrial estates have been located outside the immediate vicinity of Villa Park, between a 10 to 20 minute walk away from the stadium. Villa plan to encourage owners of those car parks to open up on a matchday, as they are assets that can relieve much of the congestion after games.
Villa also intends to consult local residents over the potential of using these controlled parking zones. Another reason for major disruption after full-time is the clog of taxis and Ubers, located too close to the stadium.
Having designated pick-up points for taxis and Ubers to park will limit the congestion felt in the immediate environment around Villa Park. Utilising more coaches to transport home fans is another strategy, with there being many clusters of fan groups around Birmingham and beyond.
The exciting plans to make Villa Park an active lifestyle destination also intends to keep supporters after games, which will further reduce the amount of traffic on roads and the number of supporters trying to catch the first train back home.
The club are employing a ‘one per cent’ plan, whereby, if one per cent of the 50,000 who watch the match use the train, and another one per cent take the bus, and so on, it'll quickly add up to a large number of people using different methods of transport which will ultimately reduce the problems currently felt on a matchday.
Mayor Mr Street previously spoke to BirminghamLive about the issues Villa supporters have been having involving the congested road and rail networks. He said: “The wonderful thing is that the club is working with the city to look at the whole area around Villa Park. But I would like to see more people come via public transport. That’s the easiest way as the ground gets bigger.
“It’s even more important that is done; [Witton] station and indeed Aston. That’s the real solution [to the travel problems]." He added: “We’re also going to need to think about car parking in the total travel plan for the ground at 50,000 and, obviously, the wonderful aspiration for this to be a Euro 2028 venue as well. We will need to think about those things. But Witton station is the No.1 priority.”
A general view of Villa Park's North Stand (Image: Photo by Matthew Ashton - AMA/Getty Images)
'THE WAREHOUSE' AND SURROUNDING AREA
Villa's latest redevelopment plan seeks to retain and revitalise the academy/stumps building to create a new multi-use experience and enhanced matchday and event fan zone. This will involve a full refurbishment to improve the visual appearance of the building, introducing community and commercial activities as well as a new home for the club's administrative functions, which will be moved out of the North Stand.
A separate new planning application for the renovation of the existing academy/stumps building will be sent this month. Villa insist that the vision for Villa Live as an active lifestyle destination remains unchanged and their consented permission for the new building will stay active for 'us to deliver in the future'.
Their new plans will enable them to deliver many of the benefits of Villa Live, however, in a shorter timescale whilst ensuring their plans remain sustainable, and of high quality and maintain their commitment and benefits to the local community.
The academy/stumps building will be named the ‘The Warehouse’, which will house a bar, big screen zone, food and beverage courtyard and a multi-use event floor. A microbrewery will also be installed in this facility.
The Warehouse can be converted for community events, like recruitment fairs or for the use of school children. The building will also be capable of hosting indoor football events.
Outside and next to The Warehouse, two new multi-use sports courts will be built for the public to enjoy all year for free. The large car park outside the North Stand will also be improved.
This area outside the North Stand serves as a huge opportunity to create a vibrant atmosphere on a matchday and for other events. Construction on the project will take roughly six months to complete, and the club would like it to be open for the start of EURO 2024, although this is not promised at this stage. Supporters could come and enjoy the tournament and Paris Olympics there, with both events potentially helping put the location on the map.
Meanwhile, Villa would also like to renovate the Holte Pub, and its surrounding area at a later stage. The building is listed as Category B, and modifications are set to be made, with the possibility of it becoming a fan zone.
What do you make of the plans? Tell us in the comments section...[11]
References
- ^ Aston Villa (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ Nassef Sawiris (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ Wes Edens (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ Birmingham City Council (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ Luiz reflects on 'best' Villa season, Emery progress and Gerrard struggles (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ Villa transfer round-up: Barnes and Johnson interest, Torres latest (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ Birmingham City Council (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ Commonwealth Games (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ Birmingham City Council (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ Dudley (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ comments section... (www.birminghammail.co.uk)