Portsmouth chief delivers Fratton Park expansion update in long-running wrangle
The feasibility study into the proposed Fratton footbridge has been ongoing since last year
Andy Cullen believes the key to unlocking Pompey’s North Stand development vision is ‘coming to a conclusion’.
Although he anticipates the long-awaited feasibility study into the construction of a new Fratton footbridge is likely to reveal greater costs than initially projected.
The Blues are eyeing a North Stand expansion in line with Portsmouth City Council’s pre-submission Local Plan from July 2024, which details development plans for the entire Pompey Centre area.
In terms of Pompey’s overall interest, proposals also include 710 new homes, ‘small-scale’ commercial outlets and a hotel - yet an upgrade in public transport linking the area is regarded as critical.
And the Blues’ chief executive is hopeful the results will be out in the New Year.
Portsmouth chief executive: It will potentially cost a lot more than had been projected
Cullen told The News: ‘The feasibility study is coming close to a conclusion, I suspect it will be early in the New Year when we’ll start to see it.
‘There are two aspects. One, is it feasible? And two, more importantly, should there be a feasible route then how much is it going to cost?
‘We have seen some different options in terms of where things can go. Those have still got to be tested and they've got to be engineered as to where they are.
‘Basically, you have three investors in the feasibility study - ourselves, the Pompey Centre and the city council. You also have a fourth investor in Network Rail, who are putting in a lot of effort into the designs and structure, so everything’s properly engineered.
‘So you have somebody running the project who is highly skilled in terms of bridge construction, they have done a number of projects themselves so it can be properly validated.
‘From what we have seen so far, I don’t think it’s going to be cheap, but we will find out more. Certainly it will potentially be a lot more than had been projected in the early stages, but that’s natural with building costs and everything else.
‘This is not a decision for the football club’
‘This is not a decision for the football club, though, it’s about the economic regeneration at Fratton. The project is about what we can do on our land, what the Pompey Centre can do with their land, and, broader, what can be done around Fratton in terms of prosperity and the regeneration of the area which we hope it can bring. That’s not down to the football club.
‘Yes, the football club is looking to increase capacity and we need to do it through an enabling development project. That project must be productive in terms of transport infrastructure - and the trains come into that.
‘There are a number of things happening over the next 12-18 months as well. We’ll be looking to explore whether there’s some opportunities for other people to get involved and that will probably start to come up over the next 12 months.
‘We have said all along, this is not just about the football club, it has to be taken in the wider context.
‘We’ll have to wait and see what comes out of the feasibility study before we can talk about optimism. What we must work on is making sure we can play our part in regenerating this area of Fratton - and that vision is equally shared by others.’
Last month, Pompey were among the stakeholders who met with South Western Railway’s new management team to discuss the ongoing project.
Becoming the first train company to be nationalised under Labour, the Department for Transport (DfT Operator) took over services in May, ahead of it eventually becoming integrated into Great British Railways.
‘We’ve had great support from Stephen Morgan’
And Portsmouth South MP Stephen Morgan subsequently brokered a meeting between interested parties in the Fratton project, bringing the new operator up to speed.
Cullen added: ‘We’ve had great support from Stephen Morgan, particularly in terms of getting other people on board who can help us to deliver. He has done that consistently over the last two years and continues to do so.
‘That is hugely helpful, in fact a few weeks ago we had a meeting with Stephen, the new South Western Railway management, the city council and Network Rail.
‘That was to make sure South Western Railway are aware of the opportunities with the new management coming in and now having the tracks and the network joined up, which wasn't the case before.
‘Previously you had Network Rail running the tracks and South Western Railway the franchise operator.’