Southend United chiefs are negotiating an extension on their Roots Hall lease amid a revamp of their plans for a new stadium at Fossetts Farm.

Blues directors Ray Osborne and Frank Van Wezel revealed to Echosport that:

Southend's Fossetts Farm stadium plans hinged on a complete design revamp by Martin's Billericay property company Martin Dawn plc to replace leisure facilities with retail and commercial developments

Negotiations had begun on extending Blues' current lease arrangement at Roots Hall, which has just 20 months left to run.

The Shrimpers' debts were £3.2 million and not as high as the £7million figure recently quoted by Martin in a radio interview with a local radio station.

Van Wezel said Martin, the club's joint major-shareholder, had been forced back to the drawing board in an attempt to keep Blues' Fossetts Farm stadium dream alive.

"We have all been frustrated by the delays with the stadium, but it is a complex matter and everything needs to be just right," he added.

"When the plans were originally submitted there was a large percentage of leisure development earmarked for the Fossetts Farm site.

"But with the recent building of cinemas and bowling alleys in other areas of Southend, Ron has had to have a rethink.

"A revised plan will be submitted which includes a far higher percentage of industrial and retail development, which we hope will lead to a successful planning application."

Van Wezel also said Martin was still trying to buy Fossetts Farm from fellow Billericay property developers Lansbury, who own the majority of the site.

"These negotiations have taken a long time, but they are very delicate," he added.

"There is no point in Ron rushing in and paying out £10m for the land and then the club get refused their planning application."

And Osborne said Blues were trying to negotiate a lease extension on their current Roots Hall home, which is now owned by their other major shareholder, Delancey Estates.

"There are only 20 months left on our Roots Hall lease and an extension has been discussed at board level," he said.

"We need to renegotiate because the current lease doesn't give us enough time to build a new ground and move into it."

Martin recently confirmed Delancey would sell their shareholding in Blues once they were re-homed.

And both Osborne and Van Wezel believe the London property company will continue to financially support the Shrimpers until that day.

"Delancey have been the football club's bankers over the last few years and have put in too much money to just walk away," said Van Wezel.

"They have kept Southend United alive, but it would defeat common sense for them to pull out now.

"The football club holds the trump card because there will be no development on Fossetts Farm or Roots Hall without a new stadium - they won't turn their backs on us!"

Osborne also revealed that Delancey's financial commitment to the club so far had been around £7m.

"Ron told BBC Essex the football club was £7m in debt, but I think he was actually talking about the money Delancey had invested in Southend," he explained.

"The deficit is much smaller. Delancey were paid back a large chunk of money when Roots Hall was sold in 1999 for £4.5m - the debt is now just over £3m."

The pair are also confident that Ron Martin is the right man to lead Southend towards a more successful future.

"It would be wrong to suggest there are no problems at Roots Hall, but the club's board is as united as it has ever been," said Osborne, 54, a Blues director for more than ten years.

"There is a lot of old history to get out of the way, especially on the financial side, but I believe we are definitely going forwards."

And these sentiments were echoed by Van Wezel, who rejoined the Shrimpers board following the return of David Webb as manager last October.

"As a director of Southend United I can honestly say that the board is kept far more up to date than under previous regimes," added the 59-year-old.

"Ron Martin has been bitten by the football bug and he wants the best for this club."

Delancey Estates were bought out by management consortium Tribeca UK last month and insisted the move would not change the plans for the Shrimpers.

By Bernie Friend

Reporter's e-mail: bernie.friend@notes.newsquest.co.uk

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