Plans for expansion of Anfield Football Ground approved by Liverpool Council at cost of £60m

Liverpool FC’s bid to extend its Anfield Road stand was approved by the city council’s planning committee on the 15^th of June 2021. The main objections were against the felling of 27 trees as part of the expansion.

The large £60m extension to the Anfield Road stand will add a further 7,000 seats, taking the overall ground capacity to 61,000.

The application was paused last April due to the impact of the pandemic. The football club had originally hoped to have the expanded stand ready by summer 2022, but now have stated that the earliest target date for completion is now summer 2023.

Within the proposal are outlines for use of the stadium for other sporting events and an option to host up to 12 concerts and/or major events per year.

Initially, Liverpool FC wanted to include Anfield Road within the new footprint of the extended stadium, however, after public consultation, they have now dropped this plan.

The club added that it is necessary to increase the size of the outside broadcast area as required by European football governing body UEFA. The loss of the trees shall be mitigated directly by funding from LFC.

Regarding the finances of the endeavour, Kieran Maguire, of the University of Liverpool’s Management School, said “each home match is potentially worth up to £2.5m to the city economy”.

After decision was put to a vote, the application was passed by six votes to two.

In another related bid,  plans to alter and convert a property in Anfield, situated quite close to the stadium, to form a 27-bedroom hotel, was deferred by the planning committee. The application by Anfield Living relates to a property on Oakfield Road, which leads up to LFC stadium. At present, the site comprises a vacant block of 2 x 3-storey semi-detached Victorian villas which have previously been amalgamated. In this proposal, the owners want to make the conversion to a Hotel and create car parking for up to 12 vehicles.

Planning officers had recommended the approval of the scheme with certain conditions, but an amendment to defer the application was passed by five votes to one.