A decision is expected to be made soon by Eric Pickles, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, on the compulsory purchase order made by Haringey Council for a family-run business on the site of the proposed development. The inability of the parties concerned to reach agreement on the issue has been holding up any movement on the building work for the new stadium.
It had been expected that Tottenham would have been putting the construction work for the stadium out to tender once the Sainsbury’s supermarket had been completed. The supermarket was the first part of the Northumberland Development Project (NDP) which has been on-going since 2007 and once completed would be followed by the construction of the new ground. Tottenham Hotspur had originally planned to move into the new stadium, whilst it is partially built, for the beginning of the 2012–13 season.
With no news coming from Tottenham on the progress of the projector any indication of work starting on the building of the stadium, supporters had started to question whether Spurs would ever move into a new ground.
If a decision is made on this issue, it would be another step towards the completion of the NDP.
I don’t know whether there can be any further appeals after the Department have made their determination but if this hurdle is crossed then it would allow the club to put the building work out to tender once the recently appointed architects have finalised the interior design of the stadium.
If this decision goes in favour of the stadium development it would be an encouraging sign that a new stadium was getting ever closer.
