Plans to relocate part of the Huish Park marquee have been approved by South Somerset District Council.
The plans for the change show the marquee will be located within the compound area behind the Thatcher’s Stand closest to the main car park in the south-west corner of the site.
The size of the new facility will be a “slightly reduced size” (in length by nine metres) and conditions placed on the club by the council mean it can only be open between 9am-11pm.
In its application, the club said: “The marquee has been on site since 2003. It has been retained as proposals for a permanent structure have not yet come to fruition.
“There is a clear need for this facility on site and it is considered reasonable that the club is allowed to relocate, retain and maintain the marquee structure until it is possible to bring forward a more permanent structure.
“The proposed layout will achieve a better, more functional location and does not require any changes to vehicle access or parking at the wider stadium area.”
The council – who are also the club’s landlord and owners of the land they are making a decision on, let us not forget – confirmed the club has temporary permission for five years. This would suggest that the hint at “a more permanent solution” is to come at some point in the next five years – or the can gets kicked down the road and a further ‘temporary’ permission request is submitted. We’ll hear in 7-10 days, no doubt…..
Such plans would tie up with previous comments made by director Stuart Robins a couple of months ago when he spoke about using the marquee to create “a fan zone behind the Thatcher’s Stand” at Huish Park.
Speaking to Three Valleys Radio’s ‘In Conversation With…..’ programme, he said: “In the short term we are trying to take part of the marquee and create a fan zone behind the Thatcher’s Stand.
“We still have to apply for a licence and then we can move part of the marquee to behind the Thatcher’s to create a better environment.
“It’s a semi-permanent structure, but it will be better than what we have at the moment. Our goal is to have some form of fan zone.”
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