By Megan Murphy
Jan. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Arsenal's plan for its 60,000-seater
soccer stadium in north London overcame a hurdle as a U.K. High
Court judge dismissed a protest by a group of local businesses
against being forced to sell up.
Justice Andrew Collins backed a decision last May by Deputy
Prime Minister John Prescott that obliged companies to sell their
properties near Ashburton Grove and set up elsewhere. The six
objectors, who filed the case last July, said they wouldn't be
able to find suitable sites nearby and that compensation payable
under the so-called compulsory purchase order would be
insufficient.
``The Secretary of State was entitled, in his judgment, to
conclude that the main purpose, and certainly the main effect,
was indeed to achieve a comprehensive and desirable redevelopment
of a deprived area,'' Collins wrote in his ruling.
Arsenal, champion of the English Premiership, plans to move
into the Emirates Stadium next year. The venue will have 21,500
more seats than the club's existing Highbury stadium, helping
Arsenal to compete with Manchester United, which gets 1 million
pounds more for each match in revenueat its old trafford ground .
Jan. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Arsenal's plan for its 60,000-seater
soccer stadium in north London overcame a hurdle as a U.K. High
Court judge dismissed a protest by a group of local businesses
against being forced to sell up.
Justice Andrew Collins backed a decision last May by Deputy
Prime Minister John Prescott that obliged companies to sell their
properties near Ashburton Grove and set up elsewhere. The six
objectors, who filed the case last July, said they wouldn't be
able to find suitable sites nearby and that compensation payable
under the so-called compulsory purchase order would be
insufficient.
``The Secretary of State was entitled, in his judgment, to
conclude that the main purpose, and certainly the main effect,
was indeed to achieve a comprehensive and desirable redevelopment
of a deprived area,'' Collins wrote in his ruling.
Arsenal, champion of the English Premiership, plans to move
into the Emirates Stadium next year. The venue will have 21,500
more seats than the club's existing Highbury stadium, helping
Arsenal to compete with Manchester United, which gets 1 million
pounds more for each match in revenueat its old trafford ground .