Melwood Training Ground

Torus bought the former Melwood training ground from Liverpool FC in 2019. The club relocated to the £50m Axa Training Centre in Kirkby in 2020, paving the way for Torus to redevelop the site. Given the loss of playing fields on the site, SPC were appointed to support Tourus to make the case for the development and address Sport England concerns. An E5 case was successfully argued alongside an off-site mitigation package. On the basis of the case put forward Torus was given planning approval by Liverpool City Council in December 2022 to build 162 homes at Liverpool FC’s former training ground.

Part of the package will also see the existing training facilities retained and used as a sports academy in partnership with ex-Liverpool players Robbie Fowler and Jamie Carragher, and with former Olympic swimmer Steve Parry, providing a legacy for the area. A new full-size 3G pitch will also be delivered, meeting strategic needs identified through the work of SPC.

Matt Rushton, Senior Development Manager at Torus commented;

‘Neil and Carolyn were diligent and thorough in their work, quickly gaining an understanding of the project and the aspirations of the partners involved, and setting out a clear and robust strategic need case which encapsulated the benefits of the project to sport and allowed the project to move forward through the planning process.’

The Garden Village, Handforth

The Garden Village (TGV) at Handforth, is allocated as a strategic development site for new residential, commercial and community development in the adopted Cheshire East Local Plan. The site will provide around 1,500 dwellings with a full range of housing types and tenure and deliver a new ‘exemplar community’.

In order to guide the delivery of the site, the Council adopted a Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) in December 2018, this required a Sports Needs Assessment (SNA) to be developed, to assess the indoor and outdoor sports requirements for the TGV site.

SPC were appointed to develop the SNA. The SNA brings together the existing Council evidence base to ascertain the need for indoor and outdoor sports facilities on the TGV site, or elsewhere locally, as a result of the development of the Garden Village. The SNA applied the relevant planning policy to the TGV site and established the resulting needs. In arriving at the needs an analysis was made of the relevant local sport and planning policy, other relevant policies including Active Design, the Socio-economic Impact Assessment and the Health Impact Assessment. Supply and demand issues in the area were assessed and the implications of the increased demand arising from the development using Sport England Planning tools; Sports Facility Calculator (SFC) and the Playing Pitch Calculator (PPC).

In addition, discussions have also been held over the years with Cheshire East Council, the Football Association (FA), ECB, England Hockey (EH), Sport England and local partners, to provide an understanding of the wider context and demonstrate how the needs could be delivered on the TGV site.

Warwick Council

SPC completed an indoor facility strategy for Warwick District Council, which was subsequently updated due to significant housing growth. The update focussed on greater growth over and above that committed in the Local Plan, resulting from the Coventry overspill. This incorporated Facility Planning Model (FPM) national and local runs. The strategy was developed following full engagement and was adopted by the Council.

The Strategy recommended a redevelopment package across the Council’s facilities. The ensuing £14.5m investment package benefitted from a £2m grant from Sport England as a direct result of the robust strategy work prepared by SPC. SPC have subsequently prepared individual sport specific needs assessments for bowls and athletics using the ANOG framework of quantity, quality, access and availability to assess the long-term needs for athletics.

‘the SPC team were able to bring a significant degree of experience and understanding of the sports and leisure sector, but also how any emerging strategy needs sit within the context of planning procedures………throughout the project SPC maintained a professional approach with the project team, but also with stakeholders and other consultees.’

Rose Winship, Head of Cultural Services, Warwick District Council