Everton submit plan for Bramley-Moore Dock stadium

Everton have issued images of the design for a 52,000-seater stadium after submitting a planning application following three years of consultation.

The football club hopes to host games at the Bramley-Moore Dock site, which will cost an estimated £500m, by 2023.

Following public responses, the club said the car park would be "relocated from its previous waterfront location and integrated within the stadium".

Everton's chief executive said the project would be a "game-changer".

"The vast amount of feedback and overwhelming support we received through our consultation has shown that the people of Liverpool understand that [it] isn't just about a new football ground - it's about regeneration, jobs and social value," Prof Denise Barrett-Baxendale said.

The proposed ground would be built within Liverpool's World Heritage Site on the city's waterfront.

Mayor Joe Anderson has previously said the development would improve the area's "dilapidated docklands, which sit in one of the poorest areas of the UK".

A club spokesman said various historic features at the dock, including the Grade II listed Hydraulic Tower and old railway tracks, would be restored.

"The design of both North and South stand lower tiers will make it easy to adopt rail seating and, should legislation change in the future, they could also be converted into areas for safe standing," he said.

Plans also include public spaces for use during games and on non-match days.

The club said it received more than 63,000 responses across two stages of formal public consultation after it confirmed in 2017 it was planning to relocate to Bramley-Moore Dock, after being based at Goodison Park since 1892.

The current stadium will be converted to "high-quality, affordable housing, a multi-purpose health centre, community-led retail and leisure spaces and a youth enterprise zone" if a separate planning application, which is due to be submitted soon, is approved, the club spokesman said.

Liverpool City Council will review both applications before it is set to launch a public consultation.

Everton were forced to abandon plans to build a new 55,000-capacity stadium at King's Dock in 2003 after they could not raise sufficient funds and a proposed relocation to a new ground in Kirkby failed in 2009, amid anger from fans.