Paul Sheldon: Deep Significance of New Development

2 July 2009

Paul Sheldon, the Chief Executive of Surrey County Cricket Club, has been leading the fight to secure planning permission for the redevelopment of the Lock/Laker and Peter May Stands for over two years. So, coupled with his delight at the future benefits he knows the new development will bring to the Club he has been running since 1996, Sheldon felt a large sense of personal vindication when it was recently revealed that the Club had won the Public Enquiry and, in partnership with Arora Hotels, could redevelop the ground’s north-east corner. Here, he writes exclusively for the Club’s official website on the benefits the new hotel will bring both the Club and the Brit Oval.

The positive ruling of the Public Enquiry in favour of our hotel development has deep significance for Surrey County Cricket Club. Put the other way, if the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) had ruled against our plans, the future for further developing the ground would have looked bleak.

It has been a real lift to us all that we can now look forward to the next phase of our plans which delivers a hotel, integrated with a new stand, and an increase in our capacity to 25,000. We are deeply fortunate to have formed such a close partnership with Surinder Arora, of Arora International Hotels, who is so generously funding the whole project. We will be discussing timetables and the finer details with him and our advisors, and we very much hope to start the work next year.

The last year has been frustrating for all of us involved in the complicated issues which caused our plans to be the subject of a public enquiry. We are all glad that the passion and determination shown by all involved have delivered the right result.

Indeed, that result has been a triumph for common sense. We have always been baffled how the safety ‘risk’ to the ground has become any worse now than when all the houses, shops and the OCS stand were originally built. The possibility of the gas holder causing an explosion (no gas holder has ever exploded) was proved to be so miniscule that it was deemed to be no risk at all. It is quite ridiculous that our systems allow such an intervention which has cost so much money and time – and could easily have prevented the project going ahead at all.

Now we can move on with great confidence – safe in the knowledge that we can continue to improve our facilities in line with world class standards.