Elmbridge Borough Council has approved plans to upgrade Chelsea’s current training center in Cobham, but a planning application is yet to be submitted.
football.london We brought you word on Tuesday evening that the Blues have begun pre-application talks with the local council over their proposed plans to modernize the club’s training facilities. After Todd Boehly and Mark Walter decided to sell their stake in September, Clearlake Capital now has full control of Chelsea and the owners are now putting their plans into action.
Although talks are at an exploratory stage, this is the first official move to upgrade Chelsea’s home ground since 2004.
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Elmbridge Borough Council has now released a statement confirming it has opened talks with Chelsea. The statement read: “We can confirm that pre-application discussions are taking place regarding Chelsea Football Club’s training ground in Cobham.
“Pre-application discussions are a normal part of the planning process. They allow applicants and planning officers to discuss proposals before any formal planning application is submitted. These discussions help to identify planning issues, provide guidance on relevant policies and requirements and do not indicate whether any future application will be approved or supported.
“No planning application has been submitted at this stage. If an application is received, it will be considered through the normal planning process, including public consultation, and will be assessed against relevant local and national planning policies.”
Chelsea’s current Cobham base was built under former owner Roman Abramovich and, while it was considered state-of-the-art at the time, the Blues’ rivals were left behind in terms of their facilities.
Since the Clearlake-Boehly consortium bought Chelsea from Abramovich in 2022, upgrading their current training facility has been a priority. Chelsea owners are now pushing ahead with plans to extend their home in Surrey.