A WORKING party set up to bring Worcester City FC back to the city has been suspended until a decision has beem made on a proposed new stadium at Perdiswell.
The application is expected to go to Worcester City Council’s planning chiefs in the next few months.
A range of sites have now been investigated by the working party, with several that had previously been ruled out being looked at again.
Worcester City Council’s Managing Director, Sheena Ramsey, is chairing the working party, which has recently met for the fifth time.
The group includes councillors alongside representatives of the Football Club’s management board and its Supporters’ Trust.
The group was established following the arrival of the Labour leadership at Worcester City Council.
Council leader, Coun Adrian Gregson said: “We have considered over a dozen sites and options since the working party was set up. There are now only a small number of options left on the table.
“The working group is still fully committed to bringing the club home to Worcester, but with the Perdiswell application expected to go to the Planning Committee in the near future it is clearly sensible to wait for that decision before we continue our work.”
Anthony Hampson, Chairman of Worcester City FC, said: “From the outset, the working party has been determined to look at every possibility for bringing City home, so we have taken a detailed second look at sites that had been ruled out before.
“Everyone on the working party is fully committed to supporting our return to Worcester, so we’ll be back at work once we know the decision on the Perdiswell planning application.”
The group has not discussed the planning application by the Football Club and the Supporters Trust for a new stadium at Perdiswell, as the application has to be determined on its own merits.
Revised plans and additional information for the application are due to be submitted to the Council by the end of October.
A new 21-day consultation is then expected to be launched to give the public a say on the revised scheme, ahead of it going to the Planning Committee for a decision.
Worcester City Football Club is currently using Bromsgrove Sporting’s ground for home matches, having moved out of its old home at St George’s Lane in 2013.
