NEW ANFIELD NO NEARER
Liverpool have a bit more time to prove they are deserving of European money in the regeneration of Anfield, but there are conflicting views from those at the top.
The deadline was due to be today for Liverpool to prove they have sufficient finance in place for the new stadium but a spokesman for Objective One said: "The projects committee will make a decision on the funding application for New Anfield on September 28 on the evidence made available to it.
"We will not offer any comment on the application until a decision is reached."
Two grants are principally available - a 10 million pound grant from the European Objective One fund, and a 5 million pound grant from the North West Development Agency (NWDA).
According to the Liverpool Echo, senior officials have grave concerns about whether Liverpool can afford their share - and one top NWDA source admitted: "The silence is deafening."
On the other side of the fence Rick Parry has been giving his weekly chat to the LFC Magazine. In it he seemed to suggest that it was in fact the council who are holding up the scheme
"We are delighted that Liverpool city council has now formally given us permission to build our proposed new 60,000-seater stadium in Stanley Park."
"Council leaders approved a 999-year lease for the site last Friday and that's another big hurdle cleared. Of course, we already had formal planning permission for our project."
"This was the council getting up to speed on their side in terms of making the park available. It's an important step although it's not the final hurdle. It doesn't mean the bulldozers are suddenly going to appear, but it's another significant milestone in what has been a lengthy process. We now move forward to another meeting at the end of September and will endeavour to keep fans informed as to the latest situation."
Another two weeks wait........
|