Nottingham Forest has submitted a retrospective planning application for a new 44-space car park at its academy in West Bridgford, saying the additional parking is intended to reduce pressure on surrounding residential streets.
The application relates to the club’s sports academy at Gresham Close and seeks permission for a car park which has already been constructed.
Planning consultants acting for Nottingham Forest say on-street parking pressures around the academy have been a longstanding source of concern for nearby residents, with the club previously using management measures and advice to people attending the site in an attempt to limit the impact.
The new car park provides 44 additional spaces within the academy grounds and is accessed from the existing main driveway.
The existing hedgerow alongside the driveway is being retained, while new hedgerow planting is proposed around the remaining boundaries of the car park to provide screening from the surrounding training fields.
The surface is finished in macadam, with drainage directed to a central gulley and a new soakaway within the site.
The application states that the additional parking would not increase the number of academy players, matches or management staff using the site.
Instead, Nottingham Forest says the spaces are intended to accommodate existing demand which is currently partly being met through parking on nearby streets.
The planning statement says the car park would not generate additional journeys to the academy and could potentially reduce some vehicle movements where people currently drop off at the site before returning later to collect players.
The proposed parking spaces are generally three metres wide and five metres long, which the applicant says exceeds the minimum dimensions set out in Nottinghamshire County Council’s highways design guidance.
Parking in the same part of the academy site has previously been approved by Rushcliffe Borough Council.
Planning permission was granted in March 2022 for a wider scheme which included additional academy facilities and parking, although the current application relates specifically to the car park now constructed.
The academy has been the subject of a number of planning applications in recent years. Earlier this year, Rushcliffe Borough Council granted temporary permission for Nottingham Forest to replace changing facilities at the site with a two-storey building.
The latest application states that the car park does not include external lighting and says the development would not increase the existing use of the academy.
The land remains classified as part of the wider playing fields for planning purposes, although the club says the area has not been used operationally for football training in recent years.
Sport England guidance generally protects playing fields from development, but allows exceptions where ancillary facilities support the sporting use and do not harm the quantity or quality of pitches.
The applicant says the car park falls within that exception because it supports the academy and does not affect any existing playing or training pitches.
It also points to the 2022 planning application, when Sport England did not object to the wider scheme that included parking in the same location.
Flood risk is another issue addressed by the application. The academy, like much of West Bridgford, is within an area protected by flood defences, although a residual risk remains if those defences were overtopped or breached.
A Flood Risk Assessment has therefore been submitted with the application. The applicant says the development is appropriate for the level of flood risk and that the soakaway provides a sustainable drainage system for surface water.
The planning statement concludes that the additional parking is intended to support the existing academy rather than expand its operation, with no proposed increase in visitor numbers or vehicle trips and no loss of existing functional pitches.
Rushcliffe Borough Council will now consider the retrospective application through the planning process. The submission asks the council to determine whether any further information is required following the formal consultation period and how the application will ultimately be decided. No decision on the application has yet been made.
