Plans for the redevelopment of Sixfields could go on display within the next “10 to 14 days”, with Northampton Town bosses set to apply for planning permission inside the next month.
Speaking today, Cobblers chairman, David Cardoza, said the club was still finishing the “heads of terms” with Northampton Borough Council.
Once that hurdle is negotiated, he said the club would be in a position to release plans for the redevelopment of Sixfields and to then apply for formal permission to begin the work.
Last month, The Chronicle & Echo exclusively revealed a deal to invest £12 million in the redevelopment of the Sixfields Stadium has been put together by Northampton Borough Council and Northampton Town FC.
The plans will see the authority lend the Cobblers up to £12 million to expand the East and West stands at Sixfields and create a range of new facilities at the ground, including a conference centre, 100-room hotel, a gym and offices.
Speaking today, Mr Cardoza (pictured) said: “We are just finishing the heads of terms with the council, which should be agreed by the end of this month. If not it will be the first couple of days in September.
“We are also running plans for the new stadium alongside that and once we have got the heads of terms signed we will put in for planning permission for the new stadium very soon after that.
“Basically plans will be ready within the next couple of weeks, obviously everyone can see those, and hopefully, fingers crossed, the planning will go in for the beginning to the middle of September.”
The first stage in the redevelopment of the Sixfields area will see the football stadium expanded to a capacity of about 10,000.
Later work will see a hotel and a conference centre built next to the ground and 300 new houses built on land close to the stadium.
The council plans to use a Government-backed funding scheme to borrow the money for the deal at a very low interest rate. It will lend the cash to the club for the stadium redevelopment, with the loan paid back by the Cobblers in 2017, after the new houses have been built near the stadium.
The stadium development will see the current east stand totally redeveloped into a stand twice its current size. The current West Stand will also be re-developed to include 10 corporate boxes.
Mr Cardoza added: “We have got to get the plans together, which is not quite finished yet as things are changing all the time, but they are being worked up and we think within the next 10 to 14 days we will have some plans to show people.”