By Joe Locker, Local Democracy Reporter
The leader of Nottingham City Council is hoping a deal to sell land the City Ground sits on to Nottingham Forest will conclude early in 2025.
Back in July the Labour-led council agreed to make the land available for sale to the club for an undisclosed fee.
The deal is seen as critical for the club to realise its redevelopment masterplan for the West Bridgford-based football ground.
The council said at the time it was looking to conclude the sale and receive the money in the 2024/25 financial year, which ends in March 2025.
However the club said any deal would be conditional to the relevant planning permissions to expand the Bridgford Stand.
Currently the club only has permission to redevelop the Peter Taylor stand, following approval in 2022, but to meet its goal of increasing stadium capacity to 40,000 it will need approval to expand the Bridgford Stand too.
Providing an update in December Cllr Neghat Khan, the leader of the council, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) she hopes the deal will conclude by the end of March despite delays.
She says she understands the club is currently negotiating what are known as Section 106 agreements with Rushcliffe Borough Council, which is the planning authority.
Councils typically grant planning permission to developers on the proviso they contribute financially to affordable housing, and local education, employment and infrastructure opportunities, in a bid to reduce the impact of a scheme, under what’s known as a Section 106 agreement.
The delays, Cllr Khan said, relate to the resignation of the club’s former chairman, Tom Cartledge, in October.
He has since been replaced by Nicholas Randall, who was reappointed having been in the position for six years after Evangelos Marinakis bought the club in 2017.
“We were hoping it would happen before Christmas, but with the delays happening due to the changes in chairman, we are hoping it is before the end of the financial year, so before the end of March,” Cllr Khan said.
“I think Forest are doing really well and it is great news for the city. I think now it is just about Rushcliffe Borough Council and Forest negotiating the Section 106 moneys so then we can then move on.”
Nottingham Forest did not respond to a request for comment by time of publication, and Rushcliffe Borough Council said it had nothing more yet to add.
The club currently leases the land from the city council, and there had been just 33 years left on the existing agreement.
It had initially been negotiating an extension to the lease to 250 years, in a bid to provide more certainty before kickstarting its redevelopment plans.
However talks between the City Council and the club stalled when the authority asked for more rent money, following its promotion to the Premier League.
Cllr Khan, who helped restart talks after becoming leader in May, says she remains “confident” the deal will go through.
The LDRS spoke to residents living in Colwick Road, which leads up to the Bridgford Stand, who say they are yet to be approached by the club regarding the plans.
Keiran Fitzsimmons, who has lived on the street for six years, said: “We’ve heard nothing at all.
“There is going to be a lot of disruption. We’re a close-knit community so if someone had heard something we would have known.”
Another resident also confirmed she had “not heard a thing”.
“But whenever they have done stuff before, like the gates, they have held meetings,” she added.
“They’ve not said anything about this.”
