CITY HOPE FOR TRAINING GROUND MOVE
POSSIBLE SNAG OVER ACCESS CONSIDERED BY PLANNERS
LEICESTER City are planning to move into their new training ground next month.
The club has been developing a 185-acre former golf course site next to the A46 a Seagrave.
It has said the £100 million complex, which is all but complete, will be one of the best facilities in world football.
The club has released very little information about progress on switching its training from Belvoir Drive, in Aylestone, to the new centre, but council papers say the club is to start moving into the new base on December 9.
There could, however, be a snag which needs resolving.
When the club was granted planning permission, it was on the condition it carried out safety improvements at the nearby crossroads where Park Hill Lane meets the A46.
People living nearby said the junction was already dangerous and that extra traffic – players, staff and fans wanting to watch matches on the 499-seat show pitch – would make it worse.
The club agreed it would fund changes to the junction before it moved in, but that work has been delayed.
Now it is seeking Charnwood Borough Council’s permission to move before the work to modify the central reservation modified with a give way line for vehicles turning right into Park Hill Lane is completed.
Councillors will meet next week to discuss whether that should be allowed.
Leicester City’s transport consultants have outlined measures they said would reduce the use of the junction by traffic associated with the club and officers have indicated they are content with that and have recommended committee members vote accordingly.
The team and the staff would be briefed and reminded to avoid the use of the junction via social media and WhatsApp groups.
Those staff who do not heed the message could face internal disciplinary action.
Signs will be placed and surveys carried out weekly to check no one flouts the rules.
The club said drivers heading to the ground from the city will be able to turn off to the left using the slip road but those coming from the north will be instructed to continue past the junction for more than two miles, then use the A607/ Fosse Way roundabout to double back on themselves.
Vehicles leaving the training ground and heading to Leicester will have to drive three miles north before turning round at Six Hills.
The club has indicated the junction work will be completed by early March. Up to that point, the club has proposed the 499-seat show pitch will not be used.
There have been 25 objections to the club’s proposal.
It has been argued there would be increased danger at the junction and the proposed measure would not be properly enforced.
Objectors also said safety should be treated as a priority over the commercial interests of the club.
Leicester City has been contacted for a comment.