Final hurdle cleared for Castleford Tigers new stadium plans

Lateral Property Group was given planning permission for the development, which include a retail park and a new 10,000-seater capacity stadium for Tigers on land next to Junction 32 of the M62, at a Wakefield Council meeting in February.

But because of the size of the scheme, it was referred to the Department for Communities and Local Government.

The government announced in July that it did not need to assess the application, preferring to leave the decision to the local authority.

Final planning permission was confirmed on Monday after the expiry of the judicial review period.

Steve Gill, Tigers’ chief executive, said: “This is massive news not just for the club but for Castleford and the whole Five Towns area.

“It should be more than Cas Tigers fans who are celebrating. Everyone in the Five Towns should be celebrating because this scheme will create more than 2,000 desperately needed jobs for our area.

“This is a massive step for us as it means nobody can stop us now and work can get underway.”

Work on the scheme is now expected to start next year and Mr Gill said Tigers hope to be in the ground by 2018.

Phillip Lunn, managing director of Lateral Property Group, said: “We are pleased to confirm that we have now formally received planning permission from Wakefield Council and that the period for any possible legal challenge has now passed.

“This means that we have now taken another major step towards making Five Towns Park a reality.

“This development would not be possible without the continued support of the local community, for which we are very grateful.”