Following Bromley Council's support for the proposals for the former Lloyds TSB Sportsground in Beckenham, the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, on behalf of the Greater London Authority has given his support for the scheme put together by Leander Sports and Leisure Limited and Kent County Cricket Club.

Commenting on this decision, Mayor Livingstone said: "I think this proposal will bring great benefit to London and expect this new facility will provide valuable new opportunities for Londoners to participate in sport."

Andrew Braddon, Chairman of Leander, said: "This is a truly great day for sport in South London. I appreciate the efforts of Bromley Council and am delighted that Mayor Livingstone and his officials have seen right to support our plans.

"We have been working on this project for 18 months and incurred significant costs, but at last we are able to move forward with a concept that is going to be beneficial, not only to the London Borough of Bromley, but also to the south London community at large. Both spectators and, of course, youngsters wishing to improve their sport can now take advantage of Leander's plans."

Mr Braddon added: "It is clear that to compete on a level footing with our southern hemisphere counterparts, centres of excellence must be created that allow our youngsters to achieve the same levels of sporting prowess as those in the southern hemisphere. The concept that has now been allowed to go forward in Beckenham will hopefully be the first of many facilities that will enable this to take place. We look forward to working on a significant number of projects, initially in the south east of England and then the rest of the country."

Paul Millman, Chief Executive of Kent County Cricket Club, said: "We are delighted at the news, not just for Kent County Cricket Club but for the many supporters of cricket in the area. We look forward to developing the ground for all the youngsters in the surrounding community, not just for cricket but for other sports as well. We also look forward to bringing first class cricket back to Beckenham for the first time since 1954."

The scene is now set for Kent County Cricket Club, Bromley Council and Leander to progress the detailed planning with a view to an early commencement on site of the pavilion construction that will be required for the first county match which, hopefully, will be staged on the 29th August 2001 between Kent and Yorkshire.

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