The MCC president Mike Gatting confirmed at the club’s annual general meeting this week that discussions about the Nursery End project at Lord's had been halted so that focus could remain on the redevelopment plans at the Pavilion End.

The MCC disclosed that the committee, at the request of the Rifkind Levy Partnership, had received a presentation in April from David Morley Architects, working on the partnership's behalf, about developing the club’s leasehold land at the Nursery End. The most recent presentation incorporated a scheme involving residential buildings in the corners of the land adjacent to the North Gate and near the MCC Cricket Academy.

Gatting told the meeting that the MCC were putting all their resources into plans to redevelop the pavilion end of the ground, including the Tavern and Allen Stands, the Thomas Lord Suite, the Middlesex office and the pavilion extensions after completion of work on the Warner Stand.

“The club must not be distracted from its plans,” he said. “When the committee begins to give detailed consideration to new facilities at the Nursery End of the ground, that will be the time to resume discussions with Rifkind Levy Partnership.”

The meeting took an opportunity to vote in additional leg room for the Warner Stand redevelopment. The resolution required seat row depths to be no less than 900mm – an increase of two inches over the current plan. No fresh planning application will be required to Westminster City Council, who granted permission in March this year.

Subject to the approval of MCC members next summer, the two-phase construction of the Warner Stand is due to begin at the end of the 2015 season to ensure there is a fully operational stand in place for the 2016 England v Australia Test. The innovative design for the new stand - developed by Populous, architects of the London 2012 Olympic Stadium – includes a semi-translucent fabric roof, supported by a timber structure, which is the first of its kind in the country.

The MCC said they would continue to press ahead with the overall 'masterplan' for development, with the architects’ competition for the new Tavern and Allen Stands approaching its conclusion.

Since the MCC were outbid by Rifkind Levy for the purchase of disused railway tunnels in 1999, affecting the use of 1.6 acres above ground at the Nursery End, various major building projects have been mooted and rejected since then, causing great controversy within the MCC. The most ambitious plan, claiming to require £400 million, was put forward in 2009 and rejected after a bitter war of words.