MCC recommends Masterplan development for Lord's

The Marylebone Cricket Council (MCC) committee has rejected the initial plans for a residential development at Lord’s. Following weeks of consultation, the committee has instead recommended the redevelopment of Lord’s in line with the club’s original and updated Masterplan. 18,000 members of the club will need to decide on a resolution consenting to the plans at a Special General Meeting on September 27.

If the bill passes, then the subsequent rehabilitation work will start. Renovation of the Compton and Edrich Stands would begin in late 2019 after the ground has staged the World Cup final and an Ashes Test in the preceding summer. It is scheduled to be completed by June 2021. Subsequent developments include a new building at the East Gate, a shop, a car park and hospitality facilities. The entire makeover scheduled to be completed by 2025.

MCC’s chairman, Gerald Corbett, wrote in an address to the members, “Today’s decision by the MCC committee provides clarity on the extremely important and often controversial subject of ground development. Put simply, the club can afford to develop the ground using its own resources and it will do so in the coming years without the need for enabling residential development.”

MCC’s new decision will overshadow the Morley Plan

The committee’s recommendation now implies the rejection of the Morley Plan. The controversial proposal was designed to construct two ten-storey apartments (containing 97 residential plots) either side of a new Nursery Pavilion which would have been leased to the MCC. This would have instead funded the redevelopment of the Compton and Edrich Stands apart from leaving the club with more than £100 million in the bank.

The decision follows a two-year process which involved one of the biggest experiments of analysis ever conducted by the club. Five consultation meetings were held at Lord’s and across the country in June where members were asked to complete a survey containing a summary of both proposals. The review and consultation process is estimated to have cost the club around £500,000.