MORE details have been released on Blackburn Rovers ’ bid to turn its senior training centre site into a 170-home housing estate with a convenience store and children’s play area.

The club submitted two applications to Ribble Valley Council seeking its opinion on the proposals that would see the club amalgamate the two training bases into one new facility at their academy site at Brockhall.

That would be funded by the sale of the senior training centre (STC) to a developer.

The club announced that a public consultation on the plans will begin on March 11 and run until March 19, with full plans expected to be submitted later this month.

Rovers have posted details to every registered property in Brockhall Village and Old Langho to outline their plans, and the club said all feedback will be considered before the outline planning permissions are submitted.

The 'screening opinion' process is the first step for the proposal and will assess whether an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is required on either site.

The club said the residential development can only go ahead in conjunction with the building of the new training facility.

Documents say the STC, situated next to The Avenue Hotel, would be replaced by 170 homes, ‘comprising a mix of detached and semi-detached properties.

The proposed development would also include a convenience store, open space and children’s play area and pedestrian and cycle routes.

The document says the STC site falls within the defined ‘development limits’ for Brockhall Village, hence the reason the new training base would be built at the current Academy site which, under current planning regulations, could not be used for housing. The club are also exploring any possible covenants which would prevent their plans from going ahead.

Rovers say the sale of the STC would ‘open up currently private land to become publicly accessible and benefit the whole Brockhall community’.

In a similar document for the academy site, the plans are outlined as: “The demolition of existing buildings and the construction of indoor training facilities, ancillary residential accommodation, grounds maintenance building and car parking.”

The academy site spans 7.82 hectares, slightly bigger than the land on which the STC sits, with the new building said to take up 0.72 hectares.

Plans show there would be four full-sized outdoor pitches, and three other smaller ones for the academy sides, while an indoor pitch would also be required to meet category one academy status.

The application, prepared by Leeds-based planning consultants Peacock & Smith, said: “Set against the characteristics and location of the proposed development, we do not consider it would have significant effects on the environment and any potential impacts would be ‘local’."

Rovers chief executive Steve Waggott said: “This is about future-proofing the club.

"It’s about investing, modernising, making best use of our assets, and creating a platform for success on and off the pitch.

“We’re working within a planning process with the council and we’re looking to establish the principle of whether we can do this – consulting the local community, the club’s fanbase and a wide range of stakeholders is a really important part of it.”

n More details will be made available, and feedback can be submitted, via a dedicated website that is soon to go live at www.roverstogetheratbrockhall.uk