Reading FC’s property arm has got the green light to build a major convention centre, 250-bed hotel and ice rink on land next to its stadium.

While final planning requirements still need to be completed, the Royal Elm Park plan is expected to begin in early 2018. It will develop a 15-hectare parcel of land used for car parking and training. These plans also include 630 homes across a dozen blocks, a large multi-storey car park, large public square and park.

Peter Brett Associates is acting as development consultant, with Arup providing technical services and Malasian architect NRY Architects working on the design of the convention centre. Their work should result in the great project delivered in 2023.

Royals chief executive Nigel Howe said: “This is an exciting proposal for both for Reading Football Club and the town itself. When we built Madejski Stadium in 1998, to give the club a sustainable level of income we built a small conference centre and then a hotel.

“Both have proved amazingly successful and we saw an opportunity for a new convention centre in the south of England situated adjacent to the stadium.

“With the support we need from local government, we have grasped the opportunity to put forward a proposal – with the aim of getting the local community more and more involved in Reading Football Club and the Madejski Stadium complex, whilst simultaneously helping the club to become more financially sustainable in the future.”