Old Trafford rebuild gets green light

 THREE Court of Appeal judges have given the go–ahead to a multimillion–pound regeneration plan for Old Trafford cricket ground.

A property company said a local authority was wrong to give Lancashire County Cricket Club permission to redevelop its stadium — and asked the Court of Appeal to block the plan.

Lawyers for Derwent Holdings, which owns a retail park near Old Trafford, told the appeal court in London that Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council acted unfairly when it gave the plan the green light last year.

But judges disagreed and said the redevelopment should go ahead. They said they would give reasons for their decision at a later date.

Lancashire chief executive Jim Cumbes said the decision was one of the most significant events in the club’s 154–year history.

He said redevelopment was essential if Old Trafford was to continue as an international cricket venue.

Cumbes said the club aimed to start re–building in September — at the end of the 2011 cricket

season — and aimed to have the new ground ready for the 2013 campaign.

Derwent had argued that councillors were given “wholly confused advice” about the plan, which includes proposals for the creation of a Tesco superstore near the ground, and were “not properly advised” on policy before granting the cricket club planning permission.