Residents object to planned £100m Leicester City FC training ground near Melton

Plans for Leicester City FC's new £100 million training ground have prompted a spate of objections from parish councillors and residents.
An artist's impression of the proposed new indoor pitch at Leicester City FC's planned new training ground near Seagrave EMN-180829-102419001An artist's impression of the proposed new indoor pitch at Leicester City FC's planned new training ground near Seagrave EMN-180829-102419001
An artist's impression of the proposed new indoor pitch at Leicester City FC's planned new training ground near Seagrave EMN-180829-102419001

The Premier League club want to relocate their training complex to a golf course site 11 miles from Melton.

The Foxes have earmarked 185 acres on Park Hill Lane, near Seagrave, where they plan to build 12 full size football pitches, an indoor pitch, a sports hall, a first team and academy training building including 30 bedrooms for players and staff, and a covered show pitch with capacity for 499 spectators.

Europe’s first Sports Turf Academy, for elite level full time training and education of sports managers, greenkeepers, horticulturalists and mechanics would also be part of the development, which will have 421 car parking spaces.

An artist's impression of the proposed new training centre building at Leicester City FC's planned new training ground near Seagrave EMN-180829-102429001An artist's impression of the proposed new training centre building at Leicester City FC's planned new training ground near Seagrave EMN-180829-102429001
An artist's impression of the proposed new training centre building at Leicester City FC's planned new training ground near Seagrave EMN-180829-102429001

A planning application will be considered by Charnwood Borough Council and dozens of objections have already been submitted.

Parish councillors at Seagrave, Thrussington and Ratcliffe on the Wreake have all written to oppose the scheme on the basis that the extra traffic generated will exacerbate dangers and congestion on the nearby A46.

A letter of objection from Thrussington Parish Council states: “The A46 Seagrave/Thrussington junction has been acknowledged to be a very unsafe junction and when the Park Hill Golf Club was originally proposed in 1991, the Department of Transport recommended refusal of the club until a flyover had been constructed.

“The volume and speed of traffic has increased significantly since that time, and it is felt that until such a time as the junction has been improved by the provision of a flyover or roundabout, that no development should be permitted.”

The site for Leicester City FC's planned new training ground near Seagrave EMN-180829-102439001The site for Leicester City FC's planned new training ground near Seagrave EMN-180829-102439001
The site for Leicester City FC's planned new training ground near Seagrave EMN-180829-102439001

Seagrave parish councillors say the development will spoil the quality of life of residents.

Residents of Seagrave are extremely concerned that the development will have a severe effect on the tranquility of the area both in terms of noise and light,” they say in their letter to the planners.

“The levels of noise and light will be far higher than that of the golf course.”

The football club intends demolishing most of the buildings associated with the Park Hill Golf Course, which has been closed to the public since January, but it would retain a nine-hole course for use by players and staff.

Leicester City’s players have been using the club’s current Belvoir Drive training ground since 1964, but the site cannot be extended.

The club says it needs a bespoke facility to develop academy players and attract top footballers for the first team.