Forest Green Rovers chairman Dale Vince has criticised Gloucestershire County Highways for stalling progress on the club’s long-awaited £100 million Eco Park stadium project.
In December 2024, planners finally approved detailed designs for Vince’s vision to create a new stadium as a “gateway to Stroud,” located near Junction 13 of the M5.
However, construction has yet to begin — not a single spade has gone into the ground — with the Forest Green owner revealing Gloucestershire County Council have asked him to build a dual carriageway to mitigate potential matchday traffic.
Speaking on his Zerocarbonista podcast with broadcaster Ian Collins, Vince said: “We keep making progress — we’ve got planning permission, we’ve beaten down most of the 30 planning conditions that stood in the way, we’ve done a detailed design, we’ve got blueprints ready for builders. We’ve costed it, everything’s going well. But we’ve got a road issue to crack with the county highways, who are just a nightmare in the whole project.
“There’s one junction — Junction 13 of the M5 — the road that leads into Stroud, and the highways people are trying to gain from the position of power they’re in. They’re trying to get a dual carriageway built from the local roundabout to the next one, at our expense.
“It’s only about a kilometre, but they want it dualled because they say we’ll bring a lot more traffic — and yes, it’s already quite busy there. But it’s only busy during weekday rush hours. Football is on a Saturday afternoon or a Tuesday night, so we’re bringing people in the off-peak.
“It’s seven million quid. If it were a little less, I might just waive it away — but at that price, I can’t help but blame them.”
Stroud Times contacted Gloucestershire County Council multiple times to request a response.
