Work to start soon on Prairie Sports Village

Plans detailing the transformation of the Windermere Avenue site have been submitted to Burnley Borough Council with work expected to start before Christmas.

The proposals for the Prairie Sports Village, which in April received £350,000 of lottery funding from Sport England, include a floodlit 3G football pitch and a 24-bay golf driving range.

The development would also see the existing pavilion demolished and replaced by a more modern complex housing changing rooms, a gym, a multi-use studio, a golf pro shop and a practice range.

The application submitted to the council states: “The project is to provide a new multi-function sports pavilion that will be fit for purpose; not only in accommodating changing rooms for the football pitches but also providing a comprehensive facility for users of the different sports on offer at the Prairie Sports Village.

“The project will support an increased range of sports. Club and sports development is a priority feature of the scheme.”

The new synthetic pitch will be available for general hire and will also used by Burnley Football Club’s community programme to develop women and girls’ football, disabled football, and advanced training for young players. It will also be used for rugby and American football training sessions.

Paul Foster, the council’s leisure development manager, said: “It feels good to have got to this stage. The area has been crying out for something like this for years and it’s in a high profile area which is good.

“We’re hoping to start work on the pitch in mid-December and hopefully, if everything goes to plan, that will be finished by April next year. Then, all being well, work on the second phase of the development will start around that time. We’re hoping that the entire project will be finished by December, 2014.”