Here's what basically happened:
- In the last 12 months or so of Higgs' reign at Rovers the club looked at ways they could make UWE happen. These included plans/inquiries in regard to providing residential accommodation at both the UWE site and at the Mem in order to make the scheme viable. Problem is partners were needed for these schemes, so they were far from straightforward and the value of the Mem for residential was considerably less than what Sainsbury's were willing to pay. It is my impression that once these options were exhausted Higgs decision was made to sell up and he was looking for a buyer months before Wael eventually came in.
- I do not know how Higgs sold the UWE project to Wael, though I expect a rather more positive spin was put on it than should've been. Remember the appeal to the courts was still being processed at this time. How much Higgs divulged in terms of the fact they had already looked at pretty much all possibilities of making it happen I don't know. But anyway, what is clear is that Wael soon found out there was a rather large hole in the funding of the project and instead of saying "no problem guys, I've got this!" he went on a number of business trips (like going to watch his beloved Chelsea!) to see if he could find OTHER PEOPLE willing to invest in the project and basically pick up the tab left by Sainsbury's deserting the project. Amazingly, there were no takers.
Now, I have been out of the loop for sometime so don't know what the absolute latest is but the long and short of it appears to be that unless Wael (or his family or whatever) are willing to dip into their pockets to the tune of £20m-odd then it simply won't be going ahead. I have heard some say that UWE may help contribute to the costs for some kind of benefit - NOT going to happen! UWE already have the naming rights for the lifespan of the stadium AND are gifting Rovers the land! What else could this project possibly offer them? Despite being a charity UWE are a shrewd operator when it comes to making money and they ain't gonna piss money away just to help Rovers out.
I suspect Rovers could start the build before next January if they really wanted to but likelihood of it happening is slim to nothing as far as I'm concerned. Have heard NOTHING to suggest it's going ahead.
Either way they'll simply have to make an announcement by September I'd say. Will be interesting. If Wael isn't going to fund UWE, you have to wonder what he is willing to fund as a new site is going to cost a lot more than UWE and a redevelopment of the Mem similarly very pricey - must be looking at £20m ish and it's heavily constrained in planning terms. They're looking at 18k capacity max there.