The Louth soccer club's ambitious plans to construct a 30m sports complex including a 10,000-seater stadium on a 160-acre site at Bryanstown just inside the Meath border have stalled because some councillors in the neighbouring county are reluctant to sanction the necessary rezoning of the land in the fast-track manner requested by the club.

The team is under pressure from Uefa, the European football authority, to end its use of United Park and move to alternative premises in order to comply with strict international regulations governing general facilities at soccer grounds.

Along with a purpose-built stadium, the proposed facility would including astro turf pitches, a swimming pool, tennis courts, basketball courts, gymnasium, a multiplex cinema and 20 acres of sports fields.

The plan also allows for the construction of 5,000 houses and a road linking the M1 and N1 in the Bryanstown area.

Drogheda borough council is considering varying the town development plan to allow for the rezoning of the team's current home in order to help the club generate cash to fund the move. The team grounds, located inside the town, have been home to 'the Drogs' since 1919. However, the three-acre site is today regarded as inadequate to cater for the needs of a modern club.

According to club chairman Vincent Hoey, Uefa last year granted the club an annual licence on the understanding that plans were in train to move to new grounds in time for the next football season.

"We negotiated a licence for this season on the basis that we were getting along with building a new stadium, " said Hoey. "There's no guarantee they'll do the same thing at the end of this season.

Certainly not unless we're seen to be moving on the stadium issue."

Meanwhile, Meath county council has indicated to developer Bill Doyle, the man behind the stadium project, that it is prepared to actively facilitate the construction process within the boundaries of existing planning regulations. However, the council insists it will not agree to a 5,000-unit residential complex, an integral part of the proposed development, in advance of the preparation of an overall Local Area Plan (LAP) for the Drogheda region.

The developer, citing time constraints on the club, is hoping to fast-track the project by way of a variation to the recently passed Meath County Development Plan.

However the council is about to prepare an LAP for the Bryanstown area, a procedure it is believed could take 18 months to complete.

"Given that we are committed to proceeding immediately with the preparation of a draft LAP for Drogheda environs, there is no justification for proceeding with a variation of the existing plan, " Meath county council director of service, planning and economic development, Kevin Stewart, told Doyle.

Some local politicians, including junior agriculture minister Mary Wallace and Fine Gael TD Shane McEntee, are supporting the project but others, including councillors Brian Fitzgerald (Independent) and Fianna Fail's Thomas Byrne, want normal planning procedures to operate.

"The local area plan is the one that is going to succeed, " says local Fianna Fail county councillor Pat Boshell.

"There are rules and regulations that have to be adhered to by Meath county council. And if they're not adhered to there'll be consequences. You could have builders and developers coming up to you and saying 'you facilitated that guy, what about me?' It would be mayhem.

"If the issue of an LAP is addressed immediately it can be in place within six months.

Any talk of a longer period of time is hype."

"We need a variation in the County Development Plan, " says Vincent Hoey. "We only want to put in our application and have it considered in the normal way and the normal planning process can take place.

"But time is of the essence and that's the quickest way to do it.

"This is a local matter, which must be resolved locally, and therefore we need to enlist local support to get a local solution sorted. Perhaps wiser councils can see a solution, but let us work together.

"We believe our project is a well-thought-out plan that is presented in a progressive manner. The young people of the area can enjoy over 20 acres of playing fields, a stadium to be proud of in the northeast, facilities for a gymnasium and swimming pool to name but a few.

"It's such a wonderful facility. So much plotting and planning has gone into it. To be frustrated at the last minute with procedural matters is unfortunate."