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Spurs stadium CPO challenge begins with early kick-off

The High Court challenge to plans for Tottenham Hotspur Football Club’s new stadium finally began today – an hour ahead of the rearranged fixture’s scheduled kick-off time.

The case, in which landowner Archway Sheet Metal Works is fighting the CPO, had been adjourned for a month in January, but when it returned to court today, the parties and judge clawed back a little bit of the delay by beginning at 9.30am rather than the 10.30am time advertised on the official court list.

The owners of Archway – who describe it as a “wonderfully old-fashioned family business” producing metal items for the catering and hospitality industry – have been in dispute with the club for years over its redevelopment plans for the land near the existing White Hart lane stadium.

They are challenging the confirmation of a compulsory purchase order over their land, which would clear the way for the new 56,250 capacity stadium and surrounding development.

The CPO was approved last July for the Northumberland Park Development (NPD) scheme, phase 2 of which includes the new stadium for Spurs, for which planning permission was secured in 2011.

Tottenham hope to move into the new stadium in time for the 2018/19 season.

In a statement ahead of the hearing, a club spokesman said: “We have already successfully and amicably relocated more than 70 businesses in the area to the satisfaction of all parties concerned and a number of these organisations continue to reside in the borough.

“Whilst we were able to accommodate all these other businesses’ requests, in the instance of Archway, we have been unable to reach agreement over the period of the last seven years.”


Archway Sheet Metal Works Ltd v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Planning Court (Dove J) 17 February 2014

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