The £400m re-development of White Hart Lane is of crucial importance to Tottenham Hotspur’s future plans. The current capacity of 36,310 cannot provide the gate revenue that clubs like Arsenal and Manchester United receive and the club has 23,000 potential season ticket holders on a waiting list. Spurs have had a very successful season on the pitch, but like all clubs interested in competing at Champions League level, they need the infrastructure to sustain that.
The £400m re-development of White Hart Lane is of crucial importance to Tottenham Hotspur’s future plans. The current capacity of 36,310 cannot provide the gate revenue that clubs like Arsenal and Manchester United receive and the club has 23,000 potential season ticket holders on a waiting list. Spurs have had a very successful season on the pitch, but like all clubs interested in competing at Champions League level, they need the infrastructure to sustain that.
The plans encountered a setback when Haringey Council threw out the initial plans after consulting with conservation bodies. The original scheme submitted last October required the demolition of a row of listed buildings along Tottenham High Road to make way for a public piazza in front of a new 56,250-seat stadium, a hotel, 400 homes and a supermarket. All these elements were designed to contribute to the commercial viability of the project and the number of homes will have to be reduced under revised proposals.
It has been suggested that the club were insufficiently sensitive to the objections likely to be made by conservationists and it is by no means certain that the revised plan which retains four of the listed buildings will be successful, although the club seems to be confident. In any event, the planning difficulties have unavoidably delayed progress on the project.