A date has finally been set for a crunch meeting to look into whether plans for a new football stadium on Canvey should be approved.

Castle Point councillors, Environment Agency experts and Canvey Island Football Club bosses will get together on Wednesday, September 8, to iron out potential problems if the club relocates.

Canvey Island FC wants to leave its Park Lane ground and move to a multi-million-pound stadium at Waterside Farm on Canvey.

The area at Waterside Farm is at present mainly grassland.

The chairman of the borough's highways committee, councillor Ray Howard, said: "Canvey being promoted to the Nationwide Conference has really put the island on the map and we need to be community spirited about their plans.

"The reality is that other clubs in the same league as Canvey have far better facilities. To go through the planning process is a costly exercise and this meeting will allow us to spot any problems there may be with the club's plans before it's too late."

Once a report from the meeting has been compiled, the club's application will be put before the council's planning committee.

Published Thursday September 2, 2004

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