The Robins have already secured planning permission for the work
Hull KR CEO Paul Lakin
Hull KR’s planned redevelopment of the land surrounding Craven Park will be ‘generational’, says CEO Paul Lakin.
The Robins have been granted planning permission by Hull City Council and should they secure the funding needed, they will be able to break ground in their bid to regenerate the land behind the East Stand at Craven Park.
The redevelopment would see a community hub built with sporting facilities and a commercial retail park attached.
However, the club would also benefit with specialist training pitches, a first-team building and an academy base also being planned to revolutionise the way Rovers work on a day to day basis.
The plan ensures any aspirations to expand the stadium permanently are currently on ice, with Rovers confirming that the temporary seating currently found to the east and south of the pitch will remain in place for next season at the very least.
Lakin is keen to push ahead with the plans as soon as they are able to and he believes the work will go someway to bolster Rovers’ sustainability for years to come.
“We’re concentrating on land development on the back because there’s an opportunity for significant funding at this moment in time and it’s the right thing to do because it will help get what is a generational development over the line,” Lakin told Hull Live. “It’s not just for us, it’s for the community and the surrounding area which we’re passionate about.
“The priority at the moment will be the sports campus, so the temporary stands will remain at the moment with the focus being at the back.
“It genuinely is generational. For the area it will provide hundreds of jobs from the retail park side of things. From the community side, there’ll be a community pitch with changing facilities, floodlit. There’s going to be outdoor basketball, netball, play areas.
“From our point of view if we secure the funding for the first-team building and academy and pathways building then that will be a place of work for decades to come and it will create sustainability in two forms, one of finance and the other is sustainability in your production line, with players coming through.
“That will create a perfect environment overlooking new training pitches to be able to do so. It’s a generational opportunity which is why we have to push ahead with it.”