Nottingham MP sees 'no reason' why City Ground sale to Forest can't go through

A Nottingham MP sees "no reason" why the sale of the City Ground to Forest should not go through as the city council reaches out for a new meeting with the club. Nottingham City Council approved its side of a deal in July that will see Forest buying the freehold for its current home from the authority, which owns the land.

That deal followed months of dispute over a proposed increase in rent, which would have seen Forest's annual bill going from £250,000 to over £1,000,000. A suggestion was made at one point during the row that Forest could end up moving to land at Toton previously earmarked for HS2.

Although the freehold deal was unveiled in July, Nottingham City Council's leader recently told Nottinghamshire Live she wanted a new meeting with Forest to "understand what's happening" after having heard nothing since. Nadia Whittome, the Labour MP for Nottingham East and a Forest fan, says she remains "hopeful" that a compromise will be reached.

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The MP said: "All fans want for us to stay at the City Ground and there's no reason why that shouldn't be able to happen. We don't want to be moving to Toton.

"I mean, what would the song be? Mist rolling in from the Attenborough Nature Reserve?" Councillor Neghat Khan, Nottingham City Council's leader, said she was expecting the sale to come through this financial year, before the end of March.

Asked if the city council's offer would remain on the table in the event that the sale did not go through before the end of March, Councillor Khan previously said: "We have to speak to them to understand what's happening." Nottingham Forest said it would not be commenting on Councillor Khan's comments.

Nadia Whittome said she backed the city council's approach to the negotiations, saying: "Speaking as both a Forest fan and a resident of the city, I want the council to be making sure that they get best value for money. As someone who pays taxes and pays my council tax, I want them to make sure that they get the best value for money for residents and I think most fans would agree with that."

The club has previously made clear that any decision to purchase the City Ground freehold will be "entirely conditional" on them being given all planning permissions for their plans to expand and improve the ground. Although Nottingham City Council is the landowner, Rushcliffe Borough Council is the planning authority covering the City Ground.

Plans already approved in 2022 include increasing the capacity of the Peter Taylor Stand to 10,000 seats and outline planning permission for a residential apartment block at the ground with 169 units. New hospitality building plans at either side of the Trent End Stand were also approved in May 2024.

Yet other plans at the City Ground include improving and, in the case of the Bridgford Stand, extending the other three sides of the ground. The overall master plan, parts of which have not yet had a planning application submitted, aims to get stadium capacity from just short of 30,000 up to 40,000.

Nadia Whittome added: "Nobody expects the council, particularly in the the economic situation that they've been put in by the last government, to be effectively subsidizing a Premier League club by giving a reduced rate. So I'm very hopeful that the club and the council will be able to negotiate and find a compromise position."