Last evening 09 April 2026, the Planning Committee at Bromsgrove and Redditch Council voted 11-0 in favour of our outline planning application number 19/00140/OUT for the erection of 25 houses on our ground at Lye Meadow.

It’s the end of a long and arduous journey since the application was first registered back in January 2019. There are several conditions attached to the approval mainly surrounding the financial contributions by way of a section 106 agreement which means, along with contributions to local schools, parks and medical centres, Alvechurch FC will enjoy a significant seven figure contribution towards the construction of new stadium facilities at The Hayes.

This is the start of a new journey which could involve more waiting time as potential developers of the site mould and shape the design and house types to best fit the requirements of the local community.

It also may mean a potential ground share for a season and this will no doubt invite lots of questions from both our fans and nearby residents.

Chairman, Richard Thorndike said this:

“Anyone linked to the club will know just how long we have been dealing with this application and the importance a positive outcome would have on our future.

There are too many individuals to thank who have supported us in our quest to get this over the line but special mention must be made to my fellow board directors who have suffered along with me and particularly Mark Fogarty (Sporting Director) and Steve Clements (Academy Manager) who both spoke at the committee hearing last night to share the projects they help deliver on a daily basis along with our vision for the future.

It’s a cliche but work really starts now. We are voting as a board on where we’ll be next season for starters. I have had initial discussions with David Faulkner at Redditch Utd who said they could possibly accommodate us for a season or two (subject to agreement) and this may end up as the preferred route for us while we develop our ground at The Hayes.

This, along with all the other regular challenges of closed season will start to impact us very soon and it’s nice to have secured safety on the pitch so we can give these challenges our full attention.

I must stress that no decisions have been made yet but I think it’s important to keep our fans as fully informed as we can. There is a possibility though that our last two games at our much maligned and historic Lye Meadow ground could be this Saturday at home to Royston and our final game of the 2025/26 season versus Leiston.

I would implore anyone who has ever been connected to Alvechurch FC to attend one or both of these games because they could prove to be historic.

Finally, I want to show gratitude to everyone who has helped us make special memories at this ground and particularly the present management team of Kyle Storer and Mark Yates who have steered us away from the wrong end of the table, bringing an end to our poor run of form.

Hopefully, we’ll see you on Saturday and we’ll be prepared for any questions you may have.
Be nice to finish the season and potentially our time at Lye Meadow with wins.

Up the Church!”