The development of a new stadium for Rotterdam football club Feyenoord has come a step closer now the city council has approved the zoning plan for the Feyenoord City project.

The project, which involves the €1.5bn redevelopment of the stadium and riverbank area, has sharply divided the council, with the local coalition backing the development and the opposition against.

Building a replacement for the current Kuip stadium will cost €444m and a final decision on that part of the project will be taken next year. That means a new stadium will not open its doors before 2025 at the earliest.

Work on building some 3,700 new homes in the vicinity of the stadium will start sooner. The council has already agreed that 40% of the homes being built in the Feyenoord City project will fall into the €720-€1,000 a month rental sector.