Hotly contested plans for the redevelopment of Liverpool FC’s historic former training ground will be considered next week.
Almost three years after the club left for a new £50m training centre in Kirkby, Liverpool Council will decide if a radical redesign of the Reds’ famed former base in West Derby is suitable. Plans have been submitted by housing group, Torus, for a mixture of 170 homes, bungalows and care units.
The existing LFC infrastructure at the Deysbrook Lane site will be retained and repurposed to form the new home of the Robbie Fowler and Jamie Carragher Football Education Academy. The future of the site has been debated for years, with outline planning permission granted back in 2017.
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A three storey structure would be built to house 96 extra care units, made up of 65 one-bed rooms as well as including eight dementia dwellings and 31 two-bed units. Alongside those would be 66 dwellings, comprising a mix of seven two-bed bungalows, seven two-bed terraced houses, 18 two-bed semi detached, 24 three-bed semi-detached and 10 four-bed houses.
The academy would provide an educational football programme for predominantly to 16-18 year olds, and also formal teaching in qualifications. The Sporting House will utilise the existing swimming pool, teaching children to swim from 9am to 8pm daily.
The existing indoor 5-a-side facilities and new 3G football pitch would be open to the community for hire in the early evenings and weekends. Melwood was the home of the six-time European champions for seven decades, dating back to the Bill Shankly area, before they relocated to their new site in Kirkby in 2020.
The plans have not been met with anything like universal approval, with West Derby residents holding public meetings opposing the scheme while councillors have met with officials from the club and housing group to seek an amicable solution. A spokesperson for Torus said previously that the scheme had been “shaped by consultation with local residents, and is focused on a vision of a sustainable, multi-generational residential community, alongside the retention of high-quality sports facilities for the community to use, as an asset for West Derby and the city.”
New vehicular access points are proposed on Deysbrook Lane, Melwood Drive and Crown Road. This has raised concerns about flooding issues around the site, while the impact on neighbouring schools and loss of green space in L12 was cited.
Liverpool Council planning officers have recommended that committee members approve the scheme when they meet on Tuesday December 13.
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