£100m Reebok Masterplan up for approval (From The Bolton News)

£100m Reebok Masterplan up for approval

9:30am Friday 21st December 2012 in Local

PLANS for a £100 million sport, education and office development next to the Reebok Stadium have been submitted to Bolton Council.

The Middlebrook Masterplan spans the Reebok, Bolton Arena and surrounding land and is a joint enterprise between Burnden Leisure — the company that owns Bolton Wanderers — and Bolton Arena Trust which runs the arena.

The scheme was exclusively revealed by The Bolton News in November and an official outline planning application has now been submitted to Bolton Council’s planning committee.

The proposals include a free school run by Wanderers, an upgraded and reconfigured arena building for full-time sports academy use with accommodation for up to 500 students, a new 105-metre sports building linked to Bolton Arena, a new five-storey, 5,000 sq m education building and up to 29,000 sq m of commercial and office accommodation in a “grand arc” of seven-storey buildings.

If the free school is given the go- ahead, it is understood it could be the first such football club development outside the Premier League.

Bolton Arena managing director Paul Bartle said: “We are delighted that a full planning application, which is the next stage in the development of the Middlebrook Masterplan, has been submitted and look forward to being able to progress the project once the planning process is complete.”