Bath Rugby is to reveal its revised plans for The Rec next month – with fans being the first to see the latest ideas for the long-delayed redevelopment.
The proposals, which the club is still keeping under wraps, will go on display at The Rec ahead of Bath’s last home game of the season against Saracens on 6 May.
They will be posted on the club’s official website the same day and will also be available for people to see at Widcombe Social Club on 10 May, before being submitted to Bath & North East Somerset (B&NES) Council this summer
Previous regeneration plans for the iconic ground, pictured, over the past decades have been scuppered for numerous reasons, including legal challenges from some nearby residents.
The club, which in the past had threatened to move away from The Rec completely and build a new ground, today said its most recent plans, drawn up pre-pandemic, had evolved. However, it did not give further details.
That scheme – known as Stadium For Bath and with a reported £30m price tag – was drafted in partnership with Bath Rugby Foundation and stadium developer Arena 1865.
Its key proposal to increase The Rec’s capacity from 14,500 to 18,000 has been retained in the revised plan, along with the regeneration of the public riverside space to the west of the stadium.
This will include widening the space to create what the club is calling “a more inviting and usable space, on matchdays and non-matchdays” while the redeveloped stadium itself will have greater community use.
“Sustainability and environmentally friendly materials are key to the new proposals,” the club said in its statement.
It added: “Stakeholder and public feedback obtained during previous consultations has influenced the new stadium design that the club plan to submit to B&NES this summer.
“The proposed capacity of the stadium will increase to 18,000 with increased provision for accessibility needs, as well as providing a new permanent home for Bath Rugby Foundation.”
Bath Rugby chief executive Tarquin McDonald said: “After decades of conversation, we are confident the plans we will submit this summer will both excite and reassure the people of Bath.
“Our club, your club, is the heart of our city and now is the time to bring a stadium that will service world-class men’s and women’s rugby, and our community, all year-round.”
Last October the Supreme Court refused an application seeking to appeal an earlier ruling of the Court of Appeal, which had allowed the club to go ahead with its planned redevelopment at The Rec.
The move brought to an end the long-running legal case relating to covenants on the land occupied by The Rec dating back to 1922, so paving the way for the club to bring forward proposals for a new stadium.
