PNE training ground bid decision day

The planning bid will be decided on Thursday, June 15

The club’s bid to transform a 172-acre site at Ingol Village Golf Club will go before the council’s planning committee tomorrow.

Council officers have indicated they are minded to support the controversial application – which includes a vast housing development – but responsibility to grant approval lies with elected members.

The plans include a new landscaped public open space, twice the size of Avenham Park, in addition to the residential development.

But the bid has sparked protests from nearby residents as well as golfers, as the new facility would see the existing club permanently closed.

Planning documents say the Championship club has aspirations for top flight football and it requires enhanced facilities to attract new players.

If approved, it is understood the club’s senior squad will move to the new facility although the academy will remain at the current training venue at Springfields in Lea. The planning application is asking for permission for up to 450 homes that will enable the club to finance the plans.

Planning documents to be considered by committee members reveal the council has received 267 letters of objection with loss of green space and the impact on local infrastructure among the concerns.