A NEW stadium for Worcester City Football Club at the Cinderella Sports Ground would have to negotiate a number of obstacles before it could become reality.

Worcester City Council have outlined a series of issues relating to the St John’s site, which was put forward last week as an alternative to the Blue Square South club’s Nunnery Way project.

The Shareholders Action Group (SAG), who have five representatives standing for election at next week’s annual general meeting, have held preliminary talks with the council about the site.

As well as a 6,000-capacity stadium, the group hope to make the Bransford Road ground available to the community with an Olympic-size swimming pool and gynmastics facility.

However, the council has highlighted several issues that would need to be addressed before the project has any chance of success.

Although the site is allocated for sporting facilities in the Local Plan, it is in the green network of the city and SAG would need to justify the benefits of the development.

The local authority have also raised concerns over transport, the effect on amenities in the St John’s area and pollution.

Senior planning officer Alan Coleman said: “We have had a pre-application meeting to discuss the potential of that site and we had a number of reservations to a scheme on that site.

“It’s allocated for sports use but it’s part of the green network of the city,” he added.

“SAG would therefore need to justify their proposals in light of that policy to demonstrate that the proposals would not harm the aims and interests that the Local Plan seeks to protect. In other words it would need to provide overriding benefits.

“We have also advised them to undertake a sequential test of potential alternative sites to justify the development of a protected site.

“The other principal issues relate to accessibility, sustainability, car parking, highway safety, together with secondary issues at this stage of siting design and size, amenity impacts, climate change agenda, the nature and range of uses which may give rise to particular concerns as well as lighting and pollution control.”

Coleman declined to comment on the Nunnery Way development proposed by the St George’s Lane club board because a planning application is about to be submitted.

City and St Modwen, who want to develop the land in a £30m scheme with car showrooms, hotel and restaurant alongside a new stadium, last week said an application for the scheme was “imminent.”