That the Club were looking to improve the facilities at Motspur Park was noted in the 'Stadium' thread - primarily to ensure that we retained our Elite Status. Today, they've confirmed that planning permission has been granted. The Club is delighted to announce that on Wednesday evening in the planning offices at Kingston Council, it received permission to redevelop the Academy’s training facility, as part of the significant efforts to maintain Fulham’s Category One status under the Elite Player Performance Plan. Fulham has had Category One status since EPPP was introduced in July 2012 and looks to retain that status for another three years with the developments. Speaking on Thursday from Aston Villa’s Bodymoor Heath Training Ground, where Fulham Under-21s were playing, Academy Director Huw Jennings said: “We’re absolutely delighted with the decision by Kingston Council’s planning committee on Wednesday evening where we got a vote of 9-2 to secure what is a major development for the Club. We’ll be developing a new, indoor centre - previously we’d only had an indoor air dome available for six months of the year - for all of our Academy players to train at - so this will be a great addition. We’ve also got a new full-sized floodlit astroturf pitch as part of this application and that will provide much-needed space for us, particularly at this time of year when it’s so difficult to get proper training facilities." “Also allied to this is new permanent floodlights for the arena pitch, long overdue for those spectators who have been coming along to watch games under our temporary lights and there will be an additional spectator area behind the goal. Plus – and I’m sure Motspur Park residents will agree with this – we’re getting long overdue overflow car parking facilities on-site. “It’s a major boost for us as a Club and hopefully for the area. Motspur Park’s a great place for us to be located and we take our responsibilities seriously with the local residents. I would like to think this guarantees Fulham will be in the area for a long time.” Whilst the facilities proposed by the application are primarily needed to meet the requirements of Fulham’s Academy, they also provide an opportunity to open up the use of them for use by schools and community groups. This is currently not possible due to the constrained nature of the existing all-weather facilities, which do not have spare capacity. It is proposed to put in place a community use plan, operated through the Fulham Football Club Foundation. The Club will update further as these plans progress over the coming months.
