Leeds United are looking to expand their Elland Road home, which can currently hold over 37,000 spectators.
The expansion plans would increase that figure to 53,000, although there is significant work to do before Leeds supporters can start looking forward to a bigger ground.
According to Leeds Live, Leeds are currently dealing with a stumbling block in their efforts to get the plan approved. The Leeds City Council were set to discuss the proposal on Thursday, November 27, at a City Plans Panel meeting. There was a possibility that there would have been a vote on the planning application to expand Elland Road.
However, the meeting was cancelled, with the next one not scheduled to take place until December 16. Despite the setback, Leeds are confident that the cancellation will not affect their ‘forecasted timelines' for the stadium redevelopment.
Concerns over travel proposals
The report also claims that there is ‘general support' among councillors for the works to go ahead at Elland Road. With that said, the issue of transport appears to be one of the major concerns that needs to be addressed before the proposals receive the green light.The club are currently working with planning officers due to fears that the significant increase in capacity will lead to increased road usage on matchdays.
From Leeds' perspective, they are looking to reduce car usage from 65% to 51%. They will try to hit that figure by implementing a number of measures, including using players and club legends to encourage fans to use alternative travel methods on matchdays.
FGG says: Frustrating part of the process
Leeds will be keen to get things moving along as quickly as possible in their efforts to build a new ground. There is already a demand for a bigger capacity, and that need will only grow if they can avoid relegation this season and then establish themselves as a regular top-flight outfit.
However, with the proposed work of this magnitude, stumbling blocks are just an unfortunate part of the process, which is why Leeds appear to have taken such issues into account when drawing up a timeline for the works.
With that said, concern might grow if there is no vote at the next City Plans Panel in December, or the one after that, which is expected to take place in the new year on January 8.