Barnet Council leader Alan Williams has denied claims by Chipping Barnet MP Sir Sydney Chapman that the council might develop Barnet FC's Underhill site should the club's plans for a new stadium fail.

Mr Chapman has intimated that the council would be free to develop the site if the land is taken out of the Green Belt and the Bees decide that their future would not be at Underhill.

Mr Williams said: "There is a long way to go before anything happens on this site. At the moment the public is being consulted so everyone will have their say. But let's be absolutely clear there is no prospect of this relaxation of Green Belt being used for anything other than this one single purpose."

Mr Chapman has questioned why the council and the club have to take the stadium out of Green Belt land when "sporting and recreational facilities are legitimate uses on Green Belt land".

Mr Williams, however, said the move was necessary after Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott turned down the club's plans in June 1999 to build a 10,000-seater stadium on Green Belt land at Copthall Stadium in Mill Hill.

"Proposals by Barnet FC to develop the Copthall stadium were found to be inconsistent with Green Belt use so we must help the football club get this one right. Barnet Council's aim is clear keep the Bees in Barnet, spectators safe and Green Belt green."

Barnet Football Club spokesman Dennis Signy said: "There are no plans for development of the current site and the club is looking at plans to develop to the south of Underhill.

"Underhill has too much of a slope and if the club levelled the slope it would further reduce the capacity."

July 31, 2001 16:42

KEVIN BURCHALL