ARSENAL FACE STIFF OPPOSITION

Last updated : 26 July 2002 By Editor

The Mail

Elizabeth Clare, a retired nursery nurse, and Ted Bedford, whose tower block flat would overlook Arsenal's new Ashburton Grove ground, launch a High Court bid to have the plans thrown out.

'Our human rights have not been taken into account,' complained Ms Clare,
63. 'Planning permission may have been given by the council, but not by us.'

A decision on the legal challenge is unlikely until September, threatening the stadium opening in August 2004 and at least £10million a year of extra revenue through the turnstiles.

Arsenal are also reported to be short on cash for the new ground which will cost £250million - half for the building and half to buy the land and regenerate the area.

They have also failed to carry out detailed surveys of the environmental impact the stadium would have on the Holloway community.

Ms Clare said she would be blighted by noise from the new stadium - Arsenal also plan to host pop concerts - and feared the pollution from the waste centre. 'We are in a very poor area, but this is not regeneration - it's degeneration,' she said.

An Arsenal spokesman said: 'Undoubtedly delay is expensive. It's not only Arsenal who stand to lose out but the thousands of Islington residents who can't get tickets.'

Makes your heart bleed, doesn't it