Leicester City get go-ahead for new £80m training ground

Leicester City has been given the go-ahead by Charnwood Borough Council to create its new £80m training ground.

The scheme will see the former Park Hill Golf Course transformed beyond all recognition.

The planning committee at the Council voted 8-4 in favour of approving the new facility.

The new facility will provide jobs for 93 people and spread across a vast 264,519 sq ft estate.

It will include artificial turf pitches, 30 bedrooms for players, dining facilities, an indoor training pitch, 499-seater spectator stand, a multi-sports hall, parents’ pavilion, a sports turf academy and 9-hole golf course.

The new training complex has been designed by KSS Design.

Leicester City vice chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha said: “The Club has experienced an extraordinary rate of growth in the last seven years and keeping the Leicestershire community at the heart of that growth has been and will continue to be a fundamental principle of our vision.

“The new training ground is a truly exciting phase of our development and a once-in-a-generation opportunity for us to demonstrate both our ambition, and that of the city, on such a large scale. We want to invest in the best possible training facilities to develop and attract the world’s elite sporting talent to Leicester and to give them a competitive edge in a game that is constantly evolving.

“It is crucial to us that the benefits brought about by the new development make the facility a source of pride for the Leicestershire community – known for so many years for its rich tradition in sporting development.”