David Cardoza provides details of the current work
Writing in Monday's match programme, Chairman David Cardoza has explained to supporters the latest redevelopment news.
"There seems to be some confusion over the stadium redevelopment plans so here's a very brief overview," wrote the Chairman.
"I always wanted to see the West Stand developed but was told by previous developers that it would be too expensive to do. They were wrong.
"We have now come up with a scheme where we can not only rebuild the East Stand but also significantly enhance the West as well. The trade off is to have less additional seats in the East Stand than originally anticipated, capacity can be increased again very easily in the North and South stands if and when required. As part of this summer's redevelopment, the entire stadium will have new seats with additional kiosks and bars. The Conference Centre will be connected to the West Stand and the hotel, rather than the East Stand without the hotel- this makes the front of the stadium more impressive looking and means Conference Centre users will be able to park directly next to the Conference Centre rather than having to walk some distance to it. The hotel being right there is an obvious benefit as well.
"The upshot is nothing has fundamentally changed apart from removing a few rows of seats from the East Stand so we can spend that saving on additional facilities in the West Stand and bolting on the Conference Centre to the West rather than the East Stand. We have a 5 year business plan agreed with Northampton Borough Council which we need to adhere to and they are happy with these changes.
"I appreciate fans want to know certainties but while trying to fit an 18 month project into around 5 months we have to be flexible and retain an open mind to help the club benefit to the maximum. If the developers come to us tomorrow and say ‘you can have this instead’ and it improves the stadium we are not going to say ‘sorry, we have announced we are doing that instead, so no thanks.’
"We will continue to do the best we can to generate the best facilities for the club and the supporters until the line in the sand has to be drawn and the building commenced."
To clarify for season ticket holders, if you are a West Stand season ticket holder, the seat you had this season will be available for next season.
If you are an East Stand season ticket holder, the stand plan for next season can be viewed here: https://northamptontown.ecommzone.com/season-tickets.aspx
Please select East Stand, choose the number and type of season tickets you would like, choose the block from the drop down menu and the plan can be viewed.
It is likely that further rows of seating will be added to the East Stand that are not currently shown. Any supporter who buys a season ticket now will be able to move their seat at a later date without charge should they wish to do so, subject to you paying to the appropriate difference in price should you wish to move to a different stand.