Maidenhead United clear hurdle in bid to move to Braywick Park stadium

Maidenhead United released a statement on Wednesday saying it welcomes the council’s decision to progress with the publication of the open space disposal notice needed for the club to secure its move to a new stadium in Braywick Park.

The club has been engaged with the council and key stakeholders over new proposals for the back of the park, having seen its initial plans for a stadium and associated facilities closer to the front of the park blocked by the newly installed Lib Dem council back in July 2023.

At the time, the council had major concerns over the loss of public open space at the park, while stakeholders such as Maidenhead Rugby Club were also opposed, feeling the plans encroached on their own facilities and operations.

The new set of proposals has eased these fears significantly.

The club originally agreed to buy a nine-acre site at Braywick for £460,000 - translating to £460 a year over a 99-year lease. But this time the club is offering £2.5million for the land, and much of this money will be invested by the council back into the park with new schemes likely to include the redevelopment of the existing athletics track at Braywick, resurfacing some of the all-weather astroturf pitches and improvements to the Braywick Nature Centre.

The new proposal is for a football league compliant 5,000 capacity ground with 2,000 seats. It will have a new hybrid surface enabling more competitive matches across all sections of the club, not just the men’s and women’s first teams.

The hope is that it would immediately grow the club’s revenue while the club then moves on to the next phase of the project, finding a suitable location for new training facilities - which would include a futsal hall and artificial training pitches - in the borough.

The new ground would be accessed from a new entrance from Vicus Way and have a small car park for matchday staff and players and supporters would be encouraged to walk from the town centre or park at one of the council’s car parks in Vicus Way or Stafferton Way.

Council members considered these new plans on Tuesday night, with Councillor Adam Bermange (Lib Dem, Boyn Hill) admitting the new proposals were ‘quite a transformation’ and go a long way towards ‘addressing the core criticisms of the earlier plan’.

Maidenhead see this step as a ‘key milestone’ in its ambitions to relocate from York Road to Braywick Park and released a statement on Wednesday saying it’s ‘grateful to the administration for its ongoing collaboration on the proposals’.

The club has long been looking to move from its current ground, and there’s now a general acceptance that York Road has reached its limit in terms of viable development options

“We welcome the Cabinet’s decision to progress the publication of the open space disposal notice for the site at Braywick Park,” said Jon Adams, chief executive of Maidenhead United.

“This decision recognises the importance of securing the club’s long-term future and the wider benefits this brings to the town.

“We have already engaged many local residents on our proposals and will continue to welcome feedback as the process moves forward. We would like to thank the council for its constructive and collaborative approach, and we remain committed to working positively with all stakeholders in the next stages.”

Following last week’s engagement workshops at Desborough Bowling Club, a drop-in session on fan experience will be held ahead of the club’s match with Bath City on Tuesday (February 3) from 5.30pm to 7.30pm.

Feedback from last week’s sessions - which focused on Ground design, Enhancements to Braywick Park and Biodiversity - can also be viewed here.

The next steps will see the council vote on the open space disposal order, likely to be at the cabinet meeting on March 24. Should the order be voted through the club would then look to submit its full planning application for the ground afterwards.