HUGE plans to remodel and increase the capacity of Lancashire Cricket Club on Talbot Road are set to take another step forward.

Trafford Council’s planning officers have recommended that the planning committee grant the application to demolish the site’s Red Rose Suite and seating and replace them with a new hotel extension building and grandstand.

The site will also feature a new museum, shop and ticket sales space, new spectator seating and facilities and a link structure to join with the extended hotel.

Outline permission for the scheme, including a 109-bedroom hotel in Stretford and a new 4,935 seater stand at Lancashire Cricket Club, was given by the council in January 2020.

The new stand will replace the existing Red Rose Grandstand at the cricket club’s Emirates Old Trafford ground and the adjacent Hilton Garden Inn Hotel will be extended.

To extend the hotel, a six-storey block will be built on the eastern side of Brian Statham Way and a pedestrian bridge will link this with the existing hotel.

The new stand at Emirates Old Trafford will increase the venue’s capacity to 26,700 overall, making it the largest cricket ground outside London.

Brian Statham Way, which runs alongside the ground, will also be re-routed to become a curved road as part of the plans and a terrace bar will be added on to the side of the hotel.

The road diversion of Brian Statham Way to accommodate the new stand may itself need to be the subject of a future planning application.

The plans for the site are part of Trafford Council’s development programme for the area around the town hall which incorporates Lancashire Cricket Club, the former Kellogg’s factory site, the new University Academy 92 campus and up to the A56 and White City retail park.

In January 2020, Trafford Council approved the outline application for both the hotel extension and the new stadium stand last night almost unanimously, with just one councillor voting against the plans.

At the time, Cllr Daniel Jerrome (Green), who represents Altrincham, was concerned that part of the site had originally been allocated for housing in previous area plans; housing which he said ‘this borough needs’.

Despite his concerns, Cllr Jerrome did acknowledge that the plans for the stadium were exciting and positive.

Councillors agreed that the design of the hotel had a basic design that ‘could have been done better’ – but that they understood this was likely cost driven to save money for developers.

This new application marks the next stage of the scheme, and would give construction workers permission to begin work in earnest by knocking down the Red Rose suite.

Trafford Council’s planning committee will deliberate and decide on the plans on Thursday June 10 from 6.30pm.