A SCHEME to create a base for an expanding young rugby club on land earmarked for housing has gained some ground, after local councillors backed the idea.

But club officials will have to tackle Pendle Council's policy-makers before West Craven Warriors' scheme for a pitch, changing rooms and floodlit training area in Cemetery Road, Earby, reaches its goal.

Last night West Craven councillors ignored planning officers' advice and gave the scheme the go ahead. They rejected an officer's recommendation that the land should be sold to a housing developer to help alleviate the council's cash crisis and voted instead to allow the area to be changed into a centre for young rugby league players.

But the scheme, by local residents, has been referred to a future meeting of the council's policy committee because of the housing plan. An application by the council's estates and property services manager to grant outline permission for housing was also referred to policy.

The rugby league club is so popular that it is outgrowing its current base at West Craven High School, Barnoldswick, and needs a purpose-built 'home.' Councillors suggested concerns about a lack of parking in the club's scheme could be solved if the club agreed to incorporate an under-used public car park next to the land into its proposals.

Councillor Tim Haigh told the council's West Craven area committee: "We know what local residents feel about this proposal. They are intensively supportive. I think local people understand what possible problems there might be and are prepared to accept them."

He added: "The land lies next to the car park which was used for the Coronation Hall, which is effectively no longer used. This car park is notoriously under-used and this scheme will make use of it."

Pendle Council is in the middle of disposing of parcels of land across the borough in a bid to raise much-needed cash to pay for improvement projects.

Selling the Cemetery Road site for a rugby pitch would be far less profitable than selling it for housing and councillors were warned they might have to find another local site to sell to make up the cash difference.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.