Funding pledge helps Spurs commit to stay in Tottenham

Image caption, Tottenham are looking to redevelop their ground

31 January 2012

Tottenham Hotspur Football Club has confirmed it will stay in the area after funding pledges from Haringey Council and the London Mayor.

Subject to approval, Haringey will invest £9m and Boris Johnson has committed £18m for mass regeneration.

Spurs chairman Daniel Levy said public funding strengthened the club's ability to deliver a new stadium scheme.

Last year, the club abandoned plans to move to the Olympic Stadium after the Games.

Spurs has committed to progressing the Northumberland Development Project (NDP), which could bring a modern football stadium, new homes, shops and leisure facilities to Tottenham.

'Maximise regeneration'

Mr Levy said: "As a major employer and business in the area we are delighted with this commitments from the mayor and Haringey Council.

"We have long said we could only invest in the area if we could see our commitment supported by others and there was a real need to maximise the regeneration benefits and lift the wider area."

The Mayor of London said: "I am committed to securing Tottenham's long-term future and the time has come for Spurs to show its commitment to the area by investing with urgency and determination to deliver the jobs and growth desperately needed in this much neglected part of our city."

Mr Johnson, through the Mayor's Regeneration Fund, is making other money available to help with regeneration projects in the wider Tottenham area, including £4.5m for an employment and skills programme and £4m to help buy key sites to bring forward for development on the High Road and Tottenham Hale.

Tottenham MP David Lammy said: "The recession and the anaemic growth that has followed have hit this corner of north London harder than anywhere else.

'Silver bullet'

"At the moment, Tottenham has the highest number of jobseekers in London and the fourth highest in the country.

"Whilst no-one expects the new ground to be a silver bullet that will solve Tottenham's economic woes, this is certainly the most significant step yet to transform the area's future. "

Earlier this month, Spurs delisted its shares from the stock market and went into private ownership as part of its plans to raise money for a new stadium.

The club had expressed an interest in taking over the Olympic Stadium, but a legal wrangle arose after West Ham United and Newham Council were awarded the stadium to use after the 2012 Games.