NWDA awards £4.9m for new St Helens stadium

The North West Development Agency has awarded a £4.9m grant towards the cost of site remediation around Langtree's new stadium for St Helens Rugby League FC.

The NWDA's grant is specifically being allocated for the site preparation of the 46-acre former United Glass site in St Helens, where the 18,000 capacity stadium will be built. The NWDA funding package includes infrastructure works, landscaping and public realm works.

The agency said its funding is expected to lever in over £57m from the developer and other private sector partners. Construction of the stadium itself will be funded by Langtree.

The stadium will be joined by a 150,000 sq ft Tesco Extra supermarket, a new access road off the A570 and a pedestrian plaza within the site.

John Downes, managing director of Langtree, said: "Today's announcement is a major step forward in the life of this project. Public sector funding will help to prepare the site for development, ultimately paving the way for one of the biggest regeneration projects to be witnessed by St Helens in recent years."

The town's current Tesco outlet on Chalon Way will be redeveloped into alternative retail outlets. Taylor Wimpey will eventually replace the current Knowsley Road stadium with residential units.

The new stadium is expected to be finished by 2011.