The American has written to the First Minister amongst others asking for the process to be speeded up despite road concerns
Frustrated John Nelms has taken his fight to the very top and the First Minister in a bid to try to move Dundee a step closer to their new stadium.
The chief admitted he has written to John Swinney and several other leading politicians as he tries to speed up the process for the Camperdown complex, which will include a modern 12,500-seater stadium, that has been slowed down by red tape.
Nelms has insisted the Premiership club have done everything they can at their end and the hold-up is getting the okay from Transport Scotland for the access and entry points to the new ground.
He claims Transport Scotland are keen to make things happen but it is not going fast enough for Nelms’ liking and the cost of the total projected £100million project is increasing with every passing day.
The businessman explained that his planners are working with Transport Scotland over two entry points to the new project and are waiting to hear which one is preferred. Nelms said: “We’ve done everything we can.
“We have done a full environment assessment and ecology reports and everything has come back fine. The Transport Scotland part is the last bit.
“I have written to government ministers, including John Swinney, the First Minister.
“I have written to six other ministers at different levels, asking why can’t we move things forward.
“I’ve also written to Transport Scotland to see if we can get into a room and knock out these finer points or agree we can address these points when we get to the next stage.
“We’re at planning in principle and need to get to final planning. Can we do the finer points in final planning and get on with things? That is what I’ve asked. Hopefully, we can get to a point where it is acceptable and the plan can be heard. Once it is heard we can go from there.”
Nelms admitted that there is nothing deal-breaking that is standing in the way of the proposal. He believes it would be a welcome boost to the struggling economy of the city.
He said: “Why we are sitting here? I am a patient person but my patience is starting to wane.
“We have got to the point where we are working on a finer detail with Transport Scotland. That is the only detail left in this process so we can be heard by the councillors.
“We have been working on this for several months and the last time we gave an update we are not really that much forward than we were at.
“In order for us to take the next step we need to know what option we are going with.
“It is at planning in principle, where you are dating a red line around a piece of land and this is what we want to do.”
Nelms believes it would cost more than £55m for the stadium alone now and that is on top of the £3m they have spent so far.
He said: “The stadium itself with all the surroundings, the accoutrements, which is also the conferencing space and things like that, you’re circa £54m, £55m. Just for that aspect.
“The overall aspect is £95m to £100m for the parts that we would be building at the moment.”
A Transport Scotland spokesperson said: “For clarity, it is the developer’s responsibility to promote an access strategy that meets the needs of their proposed development.
“Neither of the trunk road junction options proposed in recent months has been shown to be effective.
“We have repeatedly shown willingness to engage with the developer to address these issues.”
The delay means Dundee expect to remain at Dens Park for at least the next two years.
