Dale Vince protests road scheme cost for new Forest Green stadium
The Forest Green Rovers FC owner is protesting the cost of dualling a stretch of road needed as part of plans for a new £100m stadium and Eco Park
Multi-millionaire Forest Green Rovers FC owner Dale Vince is protesting the cost of dualling a stretch of road needed as part of plans for a new £100m stadium and Eco Park near junction 13 of the M5.
Ecotricity’s bid to build a wooden 5,000 seat stadium for the club with 1,700 parking spaces and a business park were given the go-ahead last December.
The green industrialist, who in 2022 was said to be worth around £107 million, has spoken on his own podcast about delays affecting the plans.
He said the highways authority want a dual carriageway built from the junction 13 roundabout to the A419 Chipmans Platt Roundabout because of the increase in traffic– and claimed it would cost £7m.
The outline proposal approved previously included dualling part of the A419, installing a signalised junction with pedestrian and cycle cross as well as parking for coaches and cars on site.
Gloucestershire County Council bosses say the dualling works were identified as part of the mitigation package associated with the previously approved planning application for this site.
However, they are at a loss as to where the figure of £7m has come from.
Mr Vince said on his Zerocarbonista podcast they have “beaten down most of the 30 planning conditions that stood in the way”.
He said they have costed the project and “everything’s going well”.
“We’ve got a road issue to crack with the county highways, who are just a nightmare in the whole project,” he said during the podcast epsiode broadcast on October 29.
“There’s one junction — Junction 13 of the M5 — the road that leads into Stroud, and the naughty highways people are trying to gain from the position of power that they’re in. They’re trying to gain a dual carriageway from the motorway roundabout to the next roundabout, at our expense.
“It’s only about a kilometre, but they want it dualled because they say we’ll bring a lot more traffic and it’s already quite busy there.
“But the thing is it’s busy in the rush hour, the Mondays to Fridays, you know, morning and evenings.
“Football is on a f** Saturday afternoon innit or a Tuesday night, do you know what I mean?
“And that seems like common sense to me, we’re going to be bring people in the off-peak.
“It’s seven million quid. I feel I can blame them but if it was little, I might just waive it away.”
Stroud District Council, the planning authority, consults with the highway authority on the suitability of highway schemes and it would be for the applicant to deliver the necessary infrastructure improvements.
The consent for the stadium includes a condition for A419 improvements which require a “scheme to be submitted”.
Mr Vince told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the planning condition had been “imposed on the scheme”.
He claimed “County Highways have insisted we pay to dual that section of the road in return for them not objecting to our scheme – which would have prevented permission.
“It’s disingenuous to suggest it’s all part and parcel and nothing to do with the county,” the Ecotricity founder and Forest Green Rovers chairman said.
“It’s been imposed on the scheme, a condition we can’t refuse – and it’s not something that makes sense given football traffic is not during the rush hours Monday to Friday.
“The A419 at junction 13 has problems during the rush hour traffic, not on Saturday afternoons.”
Shire Hall chief Lisa Spivey (LD, South Cerney) said the dualling works are part of the mitigation package of the peviously approved plans.
She said the authority welcomes investment in the county and they recognise the contribution Mr Vince and his company have made locally.
“We also welcome the ambition behind the proposed stadium development and would be happy to discuss with Mr Vince both those plans and wider opportunities around renewable energy, which aligns closely with our own commitment to the green economy,” she said.
“Dualling works on the A419 were identified as part of the mitigation package associated with the previously approved planning application for this site. The £7 million figure referenced in a recent podcast has not been provided by the County Council, and we are not aware of its source.
“A new planning application has now been submitted for the same site. Any transport or infrastructure requirements linked to the new proposal will be considered on their own merit as per the planning process, based on evidence, proportionality and in coordination with the local planning authority.”