Forest Green Rovers Football Club (FGR) has revealed ambitious plans to build a £100m, eco-friendly sports and green technology complex which would include a new 5,000-capacity stadium.
The club currently plays in the National League – the fifth tier of English football – and the Eco Park project is part of a strategy to establish FGR as a Football League club.
FGR is working together with Stroud-based green energy company Ecotricity on the plans. Dale Vince, founder of Ecotricity, is also chair of FGR.
Plans for the Eco Park – to be located adjacent to junction 13 of the M5 motorway in Gloucestershire – are designed to be sustainable and future proof. Should the club achieve its target of reaching the Football League, the flexible design of the stadium will allow capacity to be doubled to 10,000.
Other facilities within the sports complex include full-size training pitches, 4G six-a-side pitches, an athletics arena, multi-disciplinary sporting facilities and a sports science hub.
The other half of Eco Park – located on the other side of the A419 road which divides the project into two separate sites – will comprise a green technology business park with sustainably built commercial offices and light industrial units potentially capable of creating up to 4,000 jobs.
The overall concept also includes the potential development of a public transport hub, including a Stroud Park and Ride, and will also see Ecotricity work with the Cotswold Canals Trust to open up part of the ‘missing mile’ of the Stroudwater canal beside the M5.
“Eco Park could be a fantastic development for Stroud, a great new home for Forest Green Rovers, and a centre of excellence for sport in Gloucestershire.” Dale Vince said.
“At the same time, it’s going to be a place where green businesses and technology companies come together and share ideas, a real focal point of creativity and innovation for the area – and a part of the green industrial revolution that’s beginning to take off around the world.
“Today we’re going public with the concept and it marks the beginning of the consultation phase – we’re keen to hear what people think and we’re open to ideas.”
FGR has worked with Preston-based Frank Whittle Partnership to produce the initial concept plans.
