Sompting_Seagull
Well-known member
Following on the previous academy thread.....this was the email I got from the club today.
I am sure you will be aware of the club’s planning application to build a state-of-the-art new training ground at New Monk’s Farm in Lancing. There has been some controversy over the proposals with some local residents expressing concern about the proposed access and the impact of the proposals on the area. They are entitled to make their point and we should not criticise them for doing so, but as an Albion season ticket holder and Lancing resident we are asking you to demonstrate to Lancing Parish Council that there is also a strong body of support for the proposals in the area, and that it will bring significant benefits to the local community.
The opportunity to do this is at a special meeting of Lancing Parish Council to discuss the proposals this Thursday, 8th March, at 7pm in the Lancing Parish Jubilee Hall on South Street. It is a public meeting and has been called because the Parish Council has to respond to Adur District Council who are the Planning Authority who will determine our application. We want Lancing Parish Council to support the application but they will discuss it and vote on the issue.
It is a public meeting and members of the public will be invited to speak. It would be helpful to the club if a number of you would be willing to turn up and express your support.
You may already have read about the plans for the new training ground in the programme or the press, but if you haven't, I can tell you it will be a self-contained facility, and sits on a piece of land that is owned by Adur District Council, which they are making available for us. It comprises, four full-sized pitches and a three-quarter sized pitch plus training grids and a rehab area for the first team and development squad.
For the academy we'll have two full-sized pitches, two three-quarter-sized pitches, a half-sized pitch and a synthetic 3G all-weather surface plus a half-size indoor pitch. The training centre itself houses the first-team facilities: changing rooms, development squad changing rooms, coaches changing rooms, medical facilities and treatment rooms, as well as a full-sized gym for training and rehab work.
Upstairs there will be a football zone for Gus and his team including space for performance analysis, a media zone and a player relaxation zone, as well as the players' dining room. The academy side has changing rooms for each age group from U9-U16, classrooms, a library and dining room. The building is designed to be aspirational.
Gus and the whole of his team have been completely immersed in the process. We consulted him and his backroom team on everything, from the design of pitches to the facilities he wanted inside the training ground. Gus and his team have been delighted and really motivated by the involvement they have had in the process.
I have put down some key points that may help you prepare if you would like to speak. You don't have to use all of them but just some of them will be very helpful, as the facility will deliver significant benefits to the local community.
•Around 300 construction jobs will be created by the development. The club has written into the tender that where possible the main contractor must use local resources.
•The development will provide a boost to the local economy. Local companies will be asked to tender for the supply of goods and services serving the development when it is operating, the boost to the local economy is estimated to be in the order of £3 million per annum.
•The development will generate 100 full-time-equivalent jobs – 65 at the training ground and 35 in companies providing goods and services to the development.
•It will provide opportunities for education and skills training. The classrooms in the academy will be used by Albion in the Community to deliver a whole range of education programmes to help get people back into work.
•The all-weather pitch and the indoor pitch will be made available to local clubs for use when it is not being used by the academy teams.
•The club has also allocated money for an all-weather pitch and changing facilities to be provided elsewhere in the Lancing/Adur district and for the improvement of local football facilities.
As a local resident, I am sure one thing you will be pleased to know is that we will be responsible neighbours, just as we are at Falmer - and we are committed to tackling any issues you or any residents may have. Futhermore, we have a very experienced team, including the same architects KSS Design Group, who were responsible for the Amex - and the new development would be built with minimal impact on local residents.
We hope, subject to gaining the necessary planning permission, that we'll be on site by the middle of this year in which case the whole training facility will be completed by the end of 2013, early 2014.
If you intend to come along and support us, you may need to get there early, and we'd also like you to show your colours!
I take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support.
Kind regards
Martin Perry
Chief Executive
I am sure you will be aware of the club’s planning application to build a state-of-the-art new training ground at New Monk’s Farm in Lancing. There has been some controversy over the proposals with some local residents expressing concern about the proposed access and the impact of the proposals on the area. They are entitled to make their point and we should not criticise them for doing so, but as an Albion season ticket holder and Lancing resident we are asking you to demonstrate to Lancing Parish Council that there is also a strong body of support for the proposals in the area, and that it will bring significant benefits to the local community.
The opportunity to do this is at a special meeting of Lancing Parish Council to discuss the proposals this Thursday, 8th March, at 7pm in the Lancing Parish Jubilee Hall on South Street. It is a public meeting and has been called because the Parish Council has to respond to Adur District Council who are the Planning Authority who will determine our application. We want Lancing Parish Council to support the application but they will discuss it and vote on the issue.
It is a public meeting and members of the public will be invited to speak. It would be helpful to the club if a number of you would be willing to turn up and express your support.
You may already have read about the plans for the new training ground in the programme or the press, but if you haven't, I can tell you it will be a self-contained facility, and sits on a piece of land that is owned by Adur District Council, which they are making available for us. It comprises, four full-sized pitches and a three-quarter sized pitch plus training grids and a rehab area for the first team and development squad.
For the academy we'll have two full-sized pitches, two three-quarter-sized pitches, a half-sized pitch and a synthetic 3G all-weather surface plus a half-size indoor pitch. The training centre itself houses the first-team facilities: changing rooms, development squad changing rooms, coaches changing rooms, medical facilities and treatment rooms, as well as a full-sized gym for training and rehab work.
Upstairs there will be a football zone for Gus and his team including space for performance analysis, a media zone and a player relaxation zone, as well as the players' dining room. The academy side has changing rooms for each age group from U9-U16, classrooms, a library and dining room. The building is designed to be aspirational.
Gus and the whole of his team have been completely immersed in the process. We consulted him and his backroom team on everything, from the design of pitches to the facilities he wanted inside the training ground. Gus and his team have been delighted and really motivated by the involvement they have had in the process.
I have put down some key points that may help you prepare if you would like to speak. You don't have to use all of them but just some of them will be very helpful, as the facility will deliver significant benefits to the local community.
•Around 300 construction jobs will be created by the development. The club has written into the tender that where possible the main contractor must use local resources.
•The development will provide a boost to the local economy. Local companies will be asked to tender for the supply of goods and services serving the development when it is operating, the boost to the local economy is estimated to be in the order of £3 million per annum.
•The development will generate 100 full-time-equivalent jobs – 65 at the training ground and 35 in companies providing goods and services to the development.
•It will provide opportunities for education and skills training. The classrooms in the academy will be used by Albion in the Community to deliver a whole range of education programmes to help get people back into work.
•The all-weather pitch and the indoor pitch will be made available to local clubs for use when it is not being used by the academy teams.
•The club has also allocated money for an all-weather pitch and changing facilities to be provided elsewhere in the Lancing/Adur district and for the improvement of local football facilities.
As a local resident, I am sure one thing you will be pleased to know is that we will be responsible neighbours, just as we are at Falmer - and we are committed to tackling any issues you or any residents may have. Futhermore, we have a very experienced team, including the same architects KSS Design Group, who were responsible for the Amex - and the new development would be built with minimal impact on local residents.
We hope, subject to gaining the necessary planning permission, that we'll be on site by the middle of this year in which case the whole training facility will be completed by the end of 2013, early 2014.
If you intend to come along and support us, you may need to get there early, and we'd also like you to show your colours!
I take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support.
Kind regards
Martin Perry
Chief Executive
