Planners approve £100million Leicester City FC training ground near Melton

Members of Charnwood Borough Council’s planning committee voted eight to four in favour of the scheme, over 185 acres off Park Hill Lane, near Seagrave.

The plans prompted a spate of objections from residents, who feel the extra light and noise will spoil ther quality of life, and parish councillors at Seagrave, Thrussington and Ratcliffe on the Wreake all wrote to oppose it on the basis that the extra traffic generated will exacerbate dangers and congestion on the nearby A46.

Some of them spoke at the meeting, which lasted more than two hours, but members gave the green light to the project, which see the building of 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 will also be part of the development, which will have 421 car parking spaces.

The football club plans to demolish 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.