17-08-17 – Harriers announce new stadium plans

In a shock announcement earlier this afternoon, just minutes before the clubs sponsors evening which I attended, Kidderminster Harriers FC released details of a plan to move the club to the Stourport Road area where the existing training ground is located within three years.

When I walked into the Aggborough Suite I knew nothing of this but noticed immediately the display boards showing the new ground. Information is sketchy at the moment but it seems the intention is to sell the lease of Aggborough back to Wyre Forest DC for around, hopefully, £9.000.000 to enable house building there and then to develop the new stadium alongside educational facilities. These facilities will also go towards the building and upkeep of the new gaff.

It’s obviously going to be a contentious move with the club having been at Aggborough since 1890 and many fans could not imagine watching the Reds anywhere but. There are un-doubted problems with match day parking and many residents (most of which live on the new housing estates built in the last ten years) complain about. Obviously the searches they paid a solicitor for when buying the property didn’t amount to much then.

Other complaints will come from fans that like a drink with less pubs in the area, fans that arrive by train and want to return by the departed last train following an evening game and those that just don’t want change at all. These problems will have to be addressed before a decision is made.

There is also the road infrastructure to be considered and I spoke to a councillor about this earlier. He said that the council would be expecting major road improvements made using a section 106 application and also a large input of money from the club to top that up. He couldn’t say more because the club only submitted the application verbally earlier today.

Obviously there will be more information about how it will all be funded but Colin Gordon did say that a part of the cost will be met by including education facilities into the package and that would be part funded by the Birmingham Metropolitan Education Trust.

Hopefully more information will come out at a later date so here’s some photo’s I grabbed earlier (click for a large image:

Photo’s © Philip Lench