Albion's planned expansion of the American Express Community Stadium has received a boost as council chiefs look set to agree to car parking on a disputed piece of land.
A row broke out between Brighton and Hove City Council’s Green administration and Brighton and Hove Albion over a site to the south of the former Falmer High School.
Sources said the club was promised the land three years ago by the previous Conservative-led local authority and without it the club’s expansion plans were at risk.
But a month after The Argus revealed the impact of the rift, council chiefs look set to allocate the land for 800 parking spaces for The Amex, a new community centre and other uses, such as offices or university buildings.
Council leader Bill Randall said: “The Amex and the club are important to the spirit of the city and its economy.
“While the club is extremely good at persuading fans to use alternatives to driving, they were expected to provide 1,000 parking spaces on the Falmer High School site as part of their original planning consent. Development of the Brighton Aldridge Community Academy meant that this was not possible. This remaining land is therefore an important factor in ensuring a wide variety of transport options for the stadium.
“The report endorses my wish to see the highly-valued Bridge Community Centre replaced and improved for local people.”
The council said extra parking would meet a condition of the Amex’s planning consent to provide a certain number of spaces near the stadium.
This has become more pressing since the club submitted plans to add an extra 8,000 seats to the stadium by the start of the 2013/14 season.
Martin Perry, Albion’s chief executive, said:“It supports the aspiration of the club to expand the capacity of the stadium but also makes provision for the Bridge Educational Centre which is an important community facility for local residents.
“It also gives somewhere for supporters to park close to the stadium which we hope will reduce the impact on Moulse-coomb and Coldean. We ask supporters to use the car parking facilities and not to park in Coldean and Moulsecoomb.”
The meeting at Hove Town Hall at 4pm on February 2 is open to the public.
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