Plans to build a £25m rugby stadium in St Helens, Merseyside, is due to receive approval from the Government Office for the North West this month following unanimous support from the St Helens Council Planning Committee. Langtree, the project’s developer and the site’s owner, proposes to construct an 18,000-capacity stadium with mixed seating and standing facilities, to replace the existing home for the St Helens Rugby League Club as part

The proposed Peak Resort development in Unstone, Derbyshire, has finally been given the go-ahead by Chesterfield Borough Council after 19 years in the planning. The project, estimated to cost around £300m to complete, is headed by Birchall Properties and is to be located within 121-hectares (300-acres) of green belt land adjacent to the River Drone. The development’s centerpiece will be a 312-metre domed structure, housing a 26-room hotel with spa

Construction has begun on the new £3.8m sports hall at Sportspark, the swimming and sports centre based at the University of East Anglia (UEA) in Norwich. The new building – to be built in addition to the existing three-hall Barclays arena – will feature eight badminton courts, four basketball courts and four volleyball courts, as well as two lecture rooms for use by UEA, which is funding the project. The

Public voting for the National Lottery Awards, an annual search to find the UK’s favourite Lottery-funded projects, is now open until 4 July. The awards are split into seven categories – arts, education, environment, health, heritage, sports and charity – and each category features 10 projects. The three projects that receive the most votes, either online or by telephone, will progress through to the final round of voting, which will

Portsmouth Football Club and developers Sellar Property Group have unveiled new designs for a proposed 36,000-seater stadium on Horsea Island. The announcement comes after plans for a stadium on another site, The Hard, were scrapped in November following security concerns from the Royal Navy, which operates a base next to the site. If the planning application is approved, work on the project could begin in 2009 and construction of the

The new £2.6m sports centre at Bassingbourn Village College has opened to the public. The new facility includes a multi-purpose indoor sports court, an all-timber gym floor and integrated dance space and a dance bar. Other amenities at the centre, designed by architects Pick Everard, include an all-weather pitch, reception and office area, and separate changing facilities for outdoor and indoor users. Building work featured a number of energy-efficient measures,

Work on Altair, a £150m development aimed at rejuvenating the centre of Altrincham, in Trafford, Greater Manchester, is set to begin in 2009 for a 2012 completion. The project, which is a partnership between Nikal Property Development & Investment, David Mclean Group and Trafford Council, has been designed by architect Ian Simpson, and will include a 3,000-seat ice rink that will be home to the Manchester Phoenix ice hockey team.

Plans for a new 50,000-capacity stadium for Everton Football in Liverpool have been approved by Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council. The £120m stadium is to form part of a £400m regeneration scheme, called Destination Kirkby, which will include new retail outlets, restaurants, a hotel and office space. Leader of Knowsley Council, Cllr Ron Round, said: “This scheme is an amazing opportunity to change the face of Kirkby forever. “It will create

Southmead Development Trust has completed a renovation worth just under £2m at its Greenway Centre in Bristol. The project saw the creation of a new structure designed by Childs and Sulmann Partners, with a fitness suite featuring over 30 pieces of cardio and strength equipment from Pulse Fitness, including the Freedom and Evolve ranges. The suite also contains freeweight equipment and 11 group cycles. Much of the equipment is IFI-accredited,

East Cambridgeshire District Council has announced plans to develop a £11.5m leisure centre in Ely and is in negotiations with a number of leisure management firms to secure a 25-year design, build and manage partnership. The scheme has been developed following advice from consultants Strategic Leisure. The development will be funded through council reserves, section 106 funding and income from possible commercial developments on the site. Strategic Leisure has suggested

Planning permission has been granted for Charlton Lido in Greenwich, London, to be redeveloped into an open-water scuba diving centre. The project will be privately funded by leisure and residential development firm Open Waters and is expected to cost between £8m and £10m. When complete, the four-storey dive centre will have a 22m-deep, 25m-dive pool, a gym, treatment rooms, exercise studios and a crèche. It will also include a restaurant,

Construction firm Sir Robert McAlpine is converting the dry slopes at Hemel Ski Centre in Bennetts End, Hertfordshire, into a £23m hub for indoor skiing and snowboarding. Called The Snow Centre, it will boast a 160m indoor ski slope – graded for all levels of experience, a100m nursery slope, large video screens that show winter sports, two drag lifts and a rope tow on the trainer slope. The centre will

Plans have been submitted for a joint venture between five Liverpool councils to fund a £8.2m sports centre --and library in Maghull, Merseyside. Contributions will come from Sefton Borough Council, Maghull Town Council, Lydiate Parish Council, Melling Parish Council and Sefton Parish Council. The new centre will be built adjoining to Maghull Town Hall. The planned facility would house a five lane 25m swimming pool, a learner pool and fitness

A consortium of investors has submitted plans to Waterford County Council for a £104m (€150m) resort on the coast of Cahir near Tramore, south-east Ireland. The as yet unnamed resort project will be located in Islandikane, and will have an 18-hole Jack Nicklaus signature golf course as its centrepiece, along with a period-style hotel with courtyard, health spa, bar, restaurant and function room. A clubhouse, leisure centre with various sports

The Nottingham Tennis Centre is set to undergo a £735,000 refurbishment scheme as part of the Nottingham City Council’s Leisure Centre Transformation Programme. The council has launched a public consultation on the proposals, which would include replacing the ground floor catering with a new air cooled fitness suite with multi activity and spinning studios and re-locating the ground floor catering to the first floor. Councillor David Trimble said: "The proposals

The renovation of Edinburgh’s Meadowbank Stadium may result in its capacity being reduced from 16,000 to 5,000 seats so Edinburgh Council can sell excess land to fund further indoor sports facilities. Although it is at the outline planning stage, the decision has caused much controversy with the Meadowbank Community Council, which claims that it is completely at odds with what the public want. Giacomo Modica, community council chair explained: “It

Somerset County Cricket Club has submitted plans to build a £1.3m Club Hub at the County Ground in Taunton, located next door to and interlinked with the Ondaatje Pavilion. The hub is the second part of a two-phase development scheme involved in Project Taunton, a regeneration plan for the town. It will replace the original plans for an £8m club hub which was to be located in St James car

After years of political wrangling, planning permission has been given for the refurbishment of Camden’s historic Victorian Prince of Wales Baths. The £25m refurbishment will start in May. The Baths, now known as Kentish Town Sports Centre, will retain three swimming pools while a dance studio, 125-station health suite and new changing facilities will also be added. The 33 1/3-yard Willes pool will be refurbished and the Grafton pool downsized