Grays try again for Ship Lane

Grays Athletic are hoping to finally win over the planning committee at Thurrock Council, as they have become formal partners of Group One Automotive in an application to build a new car processing plant on land adjacent to Thurrock FC's former Ship Lane ground- a proposal which would see Athletic handed the stadium for their own use.

The club have been down this road- albeit without the formal partnership- twice before, and the ground at Ship Lane has sat neglected and overgrown since Thurrock FC was dissolved in 2018. It seems almost criminal to allow that to continue when Athletic are forced to groundshare along the road at Aveley, but of course the local authorities considerations are not only focused on football.

The new plans, which you can read here, are felt by the developers to have addressed the concerns raised by local planners during previous objections.

If it gets the go-ahead, as well as returning Athletic to a home of their own, the developers would spend half a millions pounds on a new community 3G football pitch at Belhus Golf and Country Park.

Read more here.

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