Protestors have failed in a High Court bid to block Arsenal Football Club’s plans for a new 60,000-seat stadium at Ashburton Grove.
The protesters, local residents who formed the Islington Stadium Communities Alliance (ISCA), had challenged Islington Borough Councils grant of planning permission for the scheme.
But Ouseley J has ruled that the planning application had been “put through a demanding legal audit”, and that most of the points raised by the objectors were “unarguable”.
Pending any appeal moves, the decision clears the way for work to begin this summer, with Arsenal hoping that the new £400m stadium will be completed in time for the 2004/5 season.
However, the residents are worried about the noise and traffic that they say will result from the proposed stadium. They challenged the grant of planning permission on the ground that the development would have inevitable traffic consequences, including effects on air quality.
Charlie Hopkins, a partner in EarthRights Solicitors, which is representing two of the residents, said before the hearing: “The case is that Islington council did not conduct the planning process correctly and that the planning permission should be overturned. My clients have concerns, notably that the environmental studies Arsenal carried out as part of the planning application were not good enough to enable the council to assess the application.
“There are also implications arising from the European Convention on Human Rights concerning the rights of local residents to a public inquiry.”
As well as the stadium, the planning permission also gives approval for a development of 14-storey tower blocks and housing, a waste station, restaurants, offices, a casino, and new road junctions, covering 60 acres of land in one of the most densely populated areas of London.
It is estimated that 75,000 people will be affected by the scheme, and that more than 60 businesses and 1,000 workers will face eviction from the development area.
PLS News 5/8/02
