Following Grosvenor's withdrawal of its planning application, Cambridge United are issuing the following statement:
"Radically improving our stadium and creating sporting facilities for our Community Trust remains fundamental to the long term future of Cambridge United.
It is an absolute necessity for the Club and critical to the ambitions that we have to further develop the social value of our community work.
The Club has remained fully supportive of Grosvenor's planning application throughout the process and have been fully engaged with all the local authorities.
Having been in constant dialogue with Grosvenor, we were aware of the potential change in their position and therefore started to explore other options. We want all of our supporters to know that this is by no means the end of the story and we will make an announcement regarding our aspirations at an appropriate time. Our ambition for Cambridge United as a football club at the heart of the community is greater than at any point in its history; new facilities are critical to that vision.
We would like to place on record again our thanks to Grosvenor for pursuing such an ambitious plan with such positive motives for the Club. Grosvenor's support for Cambridge United has been unstinting since they purchased our site in 2010. They continue to allow the Club to pay an affordable rent, rather than the amount that could be charged under the lease they inherited. Without their financial help it is no exaggeration to say that the Club would have gone out of business when we were in the Football Conference. It is clear they remain committed to Cambridge.
Cambridge is a world class City, renowned across the globe, synonymous with innovation, development and research, and the fastest growing City in the U.K. However, it is also the City with the greatest inequality in the U.K. This is most starkly demonstrated by the fact that average life expectancy is nine years less for those born in Abbey Ward, where our stadium is located, than more affluent areas of Cambridge. Our Community Trust is working together with Cambridge City Council and other appropriate agencies to tackle child poverty and a raft of social issues within Abbey Ward and other areas of need.
We are certain that with a modern stadium and associated facilities for our Club and Community Trust, Cambridge United can be an even greater asset to the City and wider community, and a catalyst for the regeneration of Abbey Ward in particular.
We are committed to working with the local authorities and will be relentless in our pursuit of achieving the right outcome for Cambridge."