Rovers have confirmed plans to amalgamate their two training bases at Brockhall and public consultation on the proposals will begin next week.

The club submitted two applications to Ribble Valley Borough Council for screening opinion on the proposals that would see the club amalgamate their two training bases into one new purpose-built facility at their Academy site (7.82 hectares). That would be funded by the sale of the Senior Training Centre (7.75 hectares) for housing development.

The week-long public consultation period for the proposals is set to start on March 11, with planning permission anticipated to be submitted later this month.

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

The two applications are also inextricably linked, meaning the residential development can only go ahead in conjunction with the building of the new training facility.

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

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.

“It’s a proven model.  England do it at St George’s Park, many Premier League clubs are doing it and so are a number of our current direct competitors in the Championship.  Integrating the whole training set up is the right move for us and will help us become a stronger club.

“We’re working within a planning process with Ribble Valley Borough 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.  Today, we’re confirming the dates and details for the consultation and highlighting how people can get involved.”

The formal public consultation will run from Thursday, March 11 to Friday, March 19.

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