Eco Park
As the world’s greenest football club, we are planning to build the world’s greenest stadium. What better way to raise the profile of sustainability in sport?
Visit our dedicated Eco Park stadium website for more information and updates.
In December 2019, our planning application for a new stadium called Eco Park was approved by Stroud District Council. It’s going to be something pretty special in the world of football, and will take all the sustainability work we’ve done at The New Lawn to a new level.
The design
Plans for the stadium itself have been designed by the world-renowned architectural practice Zaha Hadid. Although it has a modern aesthetic, Eco Park will be made almost entirely from wood – nature’s renewable building material. Zaha Hadid’s state-of-the-art designs reflect our ethos as the world’s greenest football club.
The facilities
With seating for 5,000 fans, Eco Park will lie in landscaped parkland with space for 1,700 cars. It will have two additional football pitches, including one with an all-weather 4G surface. Around 500 trees and 1.8km of hedgerows will be planted at the site to promote biodiversity.
Electric vehicle and bike charging stations will be available at the stadium.
The location
Eco Park will be built in Eastington, near Junction 13 of the M5, about six miles from the centre of Stroud, Gloucestershire.
As part of our plan, we will be making improvements to the A419 from Junction 13 to Chipmans Platt roundabout. There will be new traffic lights to the site, a pedestrian crossing, cycle crossing and combined footway/cycle way which will link to National Cycle Route 45 at Grove Lane.
We plan to subsidise match day buses from Nailsworth, Stroud and Stonehouse, and trial a bus service from Cam and Dursley train station.
What will happen to The New Lawn?
Our home for so many years, we will be sorry to leave The New Lawn, but we hope to leave a positive legacy on the site for our local community.
In our planning application, we made a commitment to having high quality, low carbon housing built where The New Lawn currently stands. The building fabric, site design and energy use of the development will be centred around sustainability, and it will include open spaces and greenery, which are beneficial to everyone.
The site will be well connected to the local area via public transport, and will have electric car and bike charging points. The buildings will be designed in keeping with community’s existing architectural character. It will provide much-needed new homes in Gloucestershire, with a high proportion of affordable housing included.
Eco Park will be constructed from wood, which not only locks up carbon but has the lowest carbon footprint of any major building material.
The stadium will have on-site solar generation and will be powered by energy from the wind and sun supplied by Ecotricity.
Our pitches will be organic and our food will be vegan, just like at The New Lawn.
Ample charge points for electric vehicles will be available.
Good walking, cycling and public transport access is part of the plan.
500 trees and 1.8km of hedgerows, along with meadows surrounding the stadium, will promote local biodiversity.
