We are pleased to advise that our planning application for our £5,000,000 investment in our new training facility has been submitted to Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council.

There now follows a period where the local authority will consult with various parties in order to determine whether our proposals are acceptable such that we may proceed.

A decision is expected from the Council by mid June 2009.

A considerable amount of time has been invested in considering the architectural design of the facility and in minimising the area that the facility occupies such that it is sympathetic with its Green Belt location on the site of the former Michelin Athletic Club playing fields.

In tandem with the development of the plans for the new training facility, we have also been busy preparing a site master plan which looks at the potential future layout of the whole site.

This plan incorporates all the aspirations of the Club and brings all of the training activities for the Academy and the first team onto one site from the four which are currently utilised.

Following the development of the new training facility, the next stage of the plan would be to construct a floodlit synthetic pitch and also provide floodlighting to the existing grass Academy match pitch.

Longer term we would look to construct an indoor pitch at the site.

All of these developments are intended to attract the best players to the Football Club and enable the young footballers in the area to fulfil their potential without travelling to other football clubs in the region.

It will also help us satisfy the Football Association requirements for academies, criteria which we have struggled to meet in the past, whilst also rationalising our training operations.

The Club shared all of these aspirations with local residents earlier in the year and received feedback on the proposals.

In the application that has been recently submitted, we have where possible addressed the issues raised, for example, the indoor pitch location has been moved to another part of the site in line with resident's comments.

We remain hopeful that our planning application will be successful and that we will be able to maintain our current programme for the delivery of the new training facility in readiness for the commencement of pre-season training 2010/11.

To download a birdseye view of the proposal in PDF format, CLICK HERE.