Chelmsford City Football Club's dream of coming home to the borough has been thrown into limbo.

Local Government Secretary Stephen Byers announced this week that he has "called in" plans for a new £2m stadium at Boreham and ordered a public inquiry, which will probably be held after Christmas.

It was in July that the football club somewhat prematurely celebrated the news that Chelmsford councillors supported their application, in spite of strong local opposition in Boreham.

But the council's backing was subject to the possibility of Mr Byers' intervening as the plan flew in the face of current planning policies.

And, as the cabinet minister made his announcement this week football club chairman Peter Stroud launched an urgent plea for support.

He warned that the planned proceedings could involve City in spending as much as £200,000 in producing reports and engaging top lawyers.

"I would not take the risk of losing that amount of money and would not contest," he said on site.

He went on "One thing I do know is that we are going to need a lot of support over the short and medium term. Just to keep this club running on a day-to-day basis is very expensive and if the light is too far down that tunnel there is a massive decision to be made.

"This burden must be shared, or there might be no club to carry that burden"

Chelmsford Council said the minister wants the public inquiry to look at five particular issues:

The relationship of the scheme to the borough's new local plan, in particular the proposals for new housing north of Boreham

Its relationship to government policy on the location of major sports stadia and accessibility

The possible impact on the open countryside

Whether or not the need for the development and the benefits it would bring would justify the minister in granting permission

Whether any permission granted should be subject to conditions

Leader of the borough council, Cllr Mike Mackrory, said, "We are of course disappointed for the club and for its supporters. The council will now begin to prepare the case for the inquiry in support of the proposal. No date has yet been fixed for the inquiry, but it is unlikely to start before Christmas."

President of Boreham Conservation Society, Sir Jeffery Bowman, said, "We are delighted to get an inquiry.

"We felt our case that the site and business plan were not good for Boreham or Chelmsford City FC were not properly considered by the majority of councillors when the plan was not refused permission earlier. We look forward to the inquiry and are already receiving donations to our funds to present our case."

Dr Wendy Le-Las, the conservation society's planning consultant, commented, "It is unusual to get an inquiry into a case such as this. There must be very serious doubts at government level.

"All the questions will need to be examined and it is likely that the applicant will have to produce a great deal more information than has previously been considered, such as an environmental impact assessment, all of which can be very expensive."

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