Laois soccer clubs set to benefit from major Midlands Schoolboys/Girls League development

The Midlands Schoolboys/Girls League, which includes clubs and players from across Laois, has unveiled plans for a major new sports development on 11 hectares of land in the townland of Curraghboy or Woodfield, Clara, Offaly.

Although the project is located in Offaly, it is expected to serve as an important regional base for teams throughout the league area, including the growing number of Laois players competing at underage level.

The proposed development will consist of four playing pitches, two of which will be synthetic all-weather surfaces with floodlighting, while the other two will be grass pitches. A grass training and warm-up pitch is also included, along with a single-storey facilities building designed to support a wide range of activities for visiting clubs from Laois and beyond.

Plans include a building of approximately 865 square metres with a rooftop photovoltaic solar panel array. Inside, it will contain an entrance lobby, a function room with servery and reception area, an office and meeting room, a weights and training room, a multipurpose community room, a medical and first-aid room with toilet, an equipment store, five spectator toilets, a universal access changing room with shower and toilet, a plant room and a storage and kit room.

There will also be two referee facilities with showers and toilets, two full changing rooms with showers and toilets, and six additional changing rooms with toilets.

The development also provides for 123 vehicle parking spaces, a dedicated vehicle set-down area, a coach and bus set-down area and a separate coach and bus parking zone. Hard and soft landscaping, an access road and internal circulation routes, pedestrian walkways and site lighting are all included in the plans.

A planning application is set to be lodged with Offaly County Council, and Laois clubs are expected to follow the process closely, given the role the facility will play in supporting underage football across the county and the wider Midlands region.

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