MORE than 5,000 people have now signed the petition to stop Gibraltar’s new football stadium being built on Europa Point.

They argue that the environmental impact has not been considered and that the whole process has been rushed through on the basis that this is the only viable option for the new stadium.

Two of the most influential environmental organisations on the Rock stand firmly opposed to the Europa Point location too: the Gibraltar Heritage Trust and the Environmental Safety Group.

The Save Europa Point group (SEP) will present their petition to the Development and Planning Commission next Tuesday.

The commission has already received more than 50 written complaints since plans for the new stadium were revealed in March and exhibited in Casemates square.

SEP has highlighted the absence of an environmental impact study, a detailed traffic plan or a detailed business plan. They claim the plans ‘make light of many real and insoluble problems that a stadium at Europa Point would cause’.

“If we are to build the ‘Home of Gibraltar Football’, a stadium that will stand for perhaps 100 years, we had better get it right,” said a SAP spokesperson.

“The consequences of a mistake would be grave and long term.

“It is only fair that we all have a say in the site chosen, and that the entire process is rigorous and transparent.”

The Europa Point stadium would hold 8,066 and allow Gibraltar FA to play their home matches on the Rock, rather than travelling to Portugal as they will for the Euro 2018 qualifiers.

Many of those opposed to the Europa Point site have offered alternative suggestions and designs for consideration.

The group will be conducting a peaceful gathering of concerned citizens outside the John Mackintosh Hall at 8:30am on Tuesday 8th April.

The spokesperson added: “Please come and show your support, and hopefully we can save Europa Point!”

You can sign the petition at:

http://www.change.org/petitions/the-population-of-gibraltar-please-reconsider-the-site-of-the-gfa-football-stadium

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6 COMMENTS

  1. What Gibraltar cannot have, due to its limited available space restrictions is a football pitch, another football pitch, a cricket ground, a hockey pitch,three tennis pitches, a sports hall AND a Stadium. Gibraltar is a sports loving community, granted, but there are other people too who are not so keen on sports, and who also need to be taken into account. There are other sports facilities scattered throughout the Rock like for example a football pitch at the North front area, an indoor basketball pitch in the south district, two tennis courts in the West Side, plus another two in the old RNH compound and probably if I racked my brain some more there may be a couple more installations which I have missed.

    The GFA proposed design would not look bad in the area now taken up by Victoria Stadium – obviously extended – ( a google earth search made it look a feasible location) but it would be a huge eye-sore “as is” at Europa point, I must agree.

    So to make everybody happy, either we change the intended design to be more in keeping with the Europa Point area, and I can think of at least one design which would blend in nicely – the Bercy Stadium, Paris, France – or a look alike, or we start working out how Gibraltar’s sportsmen and women, young and old, can work around using and sharing the other installations in and around Gibraltar, at least until the GFA Stadium is built where the Victoria Stadium and sporting complexes are now. There will have to be some degree of sacrificing some lesser sports fixtures on the part of our keen sportsmen/women though for this to become a reality, cant have it all. I hear the Bercy Stadium is also multi use which would be a good thing as it could make a great venue for other events, unless there are other constraints which I am not aware of. I am sure it will be well worth the effort for Gibraltar’s sake if something on those lines were possible though.

    There has to be some sort of meeting of minds and positions to reach a consensus and I am sure the good people of Gibraltar will find a way to make everybody happy without much aggro.

    The ball, as they say, is in your court.

  2. The design (hideous though it is) is not the issue though, the location is. Europa Point and the views of and from it would be ruined forever by any such large structure. No redesign will alter that fact. Also the access to and from Europa is very restricted and will cause havoc on matchdays. It is totally unsuitable for a project like this.

  3. The proposed design would look hideous in the place it is intended for, I agree, but if the crunch is that there is no other feasible place other than Europa Point, I would invite all to take a look at other alternatives because then the design would be very much an issue and one that would blend in with the surround and maybe even enhance it would be preferable. As to creating havoc on match days, wouldn’t the havoc be created around one of the main artery roads in and out of Gibraltar in the Victoria Stadium area with the added problem of flights coming in and going out? I would also ask how many match days are we talking about? As it stands any agglomeration of traffic anywhere any day causes havoc, so it is then really a question of putting heads together and coming up with the best solution for all and not stubbornly closing down on any one stance. I can recall one other big built up which caused furore not so long ago and has ended being quite a plus to the look Gibraltar presents. The only interest I have in this is that a solution be found where “almost” everyone is happy with the finished product and its positioning.

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