Wolves submit plans for £50m park scheme
WOLVERHAMPTON Wanderers Football Club has submitted ambitious plans for the £50m transformation of a city park.
Planning and urban design consultancy Turley Associates has submitted a planning application on behalf of the football club, together with the University of Wolverhampton, Inspire and Redrow Homes for the development of Compton Park, in the north-west of the city.
The application to Wolverhampton City Council will see a new indoor pitch and expansion of the football academy at Wolves’ training ground, made possible by the relocation of St Edmund’s Catholic School on to adjoining land owned by the University of Wolverhampton.
In turn, the university will sell the balance of its site to Redrow Homes to build 55 executive houses to cross-fund the new school. The sale of the university’s land will then contribute towards its own investment plans in a new science facility on its city centre campus.
The development will also see the relocation of Linden Lea Tennis Club onto a new site at Compton Park and the donation of Wolves’ £1m Academy Arena at Aldersley Leisure Village to Wolves Community Trust, which will then be used by thousands of people across the city.
Mike Best, director of the Birmingham office of Turley Associates, said: “The combination of there being so many parties involved and an extremely challenging timescale has made this a complex and exciting project. We are delighted to have reached the milestone of submitting the planning application on behalf of the Compton Park partners.”
Jez Moxey, chief executive of Wolverhampton Wanderers, added: “This project will deliver educational, sporting and community benefits across the city and will be a real shot in the arm for Wolverhampton. It has been a great team effort to date and a real example of partnership working.”
A decision on the planning application is expected in early November.
