Accrington Stanley Community Trust have received planning approval today for the Community Sports Hub facility that will transform Higham Playing Fields.

Hyndburn Council’s planning committee approved the application which will see a brand new multi-use community building, full size floodlit artificial football pitch, three renovated grass pitches, a new ECB approved artificial cricket wicket and a 75 space car park added to the site.

Speaking after the planning decision Martin Fearon, CEO of Accrington Stanley Community Trust said ‘‘we are delighted with the decision that has been made by the planning committee. We have been carefully designing the plans over the past few months to ensure we had the best possible facility to present to the Hyndburn community. The Sports Hub sees a great mix of facilities for all sectors of the general public to enjoy. We believe that grassroots sport needs more investment and we are going to play a big part in this by providing this fantastic project for our community.

The aims of the sports hub are to increase participation in sport, improve health and exercise levels and provide more opportunities for disabled people to access vital sport and education activities. The Sports Hub will also host many projects that develop skills for people out of work, create new job opportunities, inspire people to become volunteers for local sports organisations, sports clubs and charities, and provide a pathway for gifted and talented young people into elite sport.’’

Accrington Stanley Community Trust now have the green light to bring facility funding in from various sources and will also be consulting with a number of organisations in the next stage of this development.

Accrington Stanley Community Trust would like to thank all of our supporters and will give further updates over the coming months.