Arsenal gets stadium go-ahead

Arsenal Football Club today has the go-ahead for its £400 million plan to leave Highbury and build a new stadium nearby.

A public meeting ended in the early hours with shouts of jubilation from scores of fans who had sat through five hours of debate.

The club said the decision would allow it to break free from the shackles of Highbury and generate the finances to compete with the richest clubs in Europe from a futuristic home in Ashburton Grove - currently an industrial estate.

The new stadium will allow Arsenal to increase crowd capacity from 38,000 to 60,000. It will also create 3,900 new homes and 2,300 jobs, says the club.

The council's decision now goes before London Mayor Ken Livingstone who has 14 working days to either approve it or throw it out. He has already signalled his support, however, for the move which will regenerate a swathe of north London.

Roger Hepher, Arsenal's chief planning consultant, said after the meeting: "It is a great relief to have overcome this hurdle. The club can now plough on with this scheme which will allow it to expand significantly and compete on an even keel with the biggest clubs in Europe.''

Steven Powell, chairman of the Arsenal Independent Supporters Association, said: "This is wonderful news. We are now going to have world class facilities - but best of all it means the club will stay in Islington."

Three key planning decisions went in Arsenal's favour at the special assembly of the full council held at Islington's Union Chapel so more than 1,000 people could attend. The first, the proposal to build the new stadium designed by the architects of Sydney's Olympic Stadium, was backed by 34 councillors. Only seven objected, to the delight of a handful of vocal supporters who chanted: "One nil to the Arsenal."

The club is now confident the new stadium will be in place for the 2004-2005 season. However, opponents vowed to push for a full public inquiry.

This is London sport