To claim January 24 as a historic date might be a bit strong, but nevertheless, among the ranks of Blues fans, glasses are likely be raised for years to come on the anniversary.

Southend Council's decision to grant permission for the Fossetts Farm stadium means we can use three words with confidence, for the first time. It will happen.

Councillors have done entirely the right thing in waving this project through when they could so easily have prevaricated. Instead, recognising the strength of feeling in the town, they have delivered a simple "yes".

Tonight, Rochford district councillors will make a decision on the Rochford section of the site. They should look to the example set by Southend.

However, despite claims to the contrary by the developer, the training ground car park is not so fundamental to the project that it will fail without it. Ron Martin is resourceful and will find a way to circumvent the problem.

The other half of the equation, redevelopment plans for the old Roots Hall site, fared less well. But here too, the council has made the right decision. The last thing Southend needs at Roots Hall is a superstore. The thought of more traffic at such a bottleneck makes drivers shudder. A supermarket would suck trade away from the town centre.

The emphasis at Roots Hall must be on creating a new community, not milking every last drop of commercial advantage.

A more modest development will still provide more than adequate capital to finance the new stadium. Mr Martin must accept this and come up with a plan more to the council's liking.

Southend will not be forgiving if its stadium is delayed again, this time by games of brinkmanship over Roots Hall.