 AN eight-acre parcel of land in the shadow of Prenton Park holds the key to Tranmere’s future, shareholders were told yesterday. If a plan to sell the training pitches at Ingleborough Road for housing development is given the green light, the proceeds will fund a new, state-of-the-art training facility and secure the club’s financial future, chairman Lorraine Rogers said. Rovers hope to submit simultaneous planning applications for the two linked projects before the end of the year. The new training ground, at a site yet to be finalised, would house all levels of Tranmere’s footballing operations in one high-tech facility. Rogers, addressing Rovers annual meeting yesterday, said she envisaged the complex would include six full-sized pitches, 12 smaller pitches, all-weather pitches, floodlighting, a gymnasium, medical facilities, offices, spectator and catering facilities and a car park. It would also be made available for community use. The project is dependent on a Tranmere negotiating the difficult hurdle of securing planning permission for the development of 169 homes on the Ingleborough Road site, which is currently used by the club’s school of excellence teams. Rogers described the facilities at Ingleborough as “poor” and said the club was limited in the improvements they could make. Rovers, who have been negotiating with residents in the Ingleborough Road area for more than two years, say they have the backing of the majority of the Tranmere Hall Residents Association for the housing scheme. However, the application cuts across current Wirral planning restrictions. Apart from protection from development as a sports ground, Ingleborough Road falls just outside the zone earmarked as a regeneration priority area by Wirral Council. The council is also the club’s main sponsor, in an arrangement that dates back 20 years. Rogers said Tranmere have been in discussions with council officials “at a senior level” over the issue and hope to convince the local authority that their plan represents a special case. Rogers said: “By the end of 2008 we hope to submit to separate but linked applications simultaneously for the development of housing at Ingleborough Road and the new training facility. “We hope the council will take into account the very special circumstances we will be proposing. We will be asking the decision-makers to look at it in totality. “We have the overwhelming support of local residents for the housing development at Ingleborough Road. Just under half of the dwellings will be retirement homes. “Ingleborough Road falls about 100 metres outside the boundary relating to development. That boundary could change. It is under discussion. It’s not as if this is in Hoylake or Heswall. “Proposals will bring a net sporting benefits for the Wirral because the new training ground would be a public facility.” Rogers added: “It’s clear that local authorities across the country are coming to value football clubs as a community asset, bringing economic benefits to the area. “This proposal would also help to secure all the future of the club.” Rogers admitted securing a successful conclusion to the planning process “would not be easy.” She added: “We have had several meetings with senior officials at Wirral Council who have been helpful in advising us and because of that we are optimistic about getting approval.” Rogers said the scale and high technical standards required for the proposed training facility limited the options for the new site, as did greenbelt restrictions. Tranmere acquired the Ingleborough site, formerly the Birkenhead Institute Playing Fields, in an exchange deal that enabled Wirral Council to secure land at Tranmere’s former training ground at Valley Road during the 1990s. Rovers’ senior and youth squads currently train at a seven-acre site at Raby Vale, which is leased. Rogers also told the meeting that ideas for utilising land surrounding Prenton Park are also under consideration. The future of the Main Stand is under discussion as the 40-year-old structure is becoming increasingly expensive to repair. | 
