Chelsea picks Mills & Reeve for planning work

Mills & Reeve planning lawyers have been selected to advise Chelsea Village on its application for planning permission to build a new training academy for Chelsea Football Club, following a competitive tender process.
Chelsea Village, the owner of Chelsea Football Club, is a new client for the firm.
The planning team, led by partner David Brock, beat off competition for the contract from other leading firms and will advise on the drawing up and negotiation of the planning agreement.
Brock joined Mills & Reeve's Cambridge office as a partner in 2000 and co-heads the planning and environmental law team. He was previously a partner with Herbert Smith in London.
Chelsea Village purchased a site at Sunbury-on-Thames for the new fully integrated training complex. The development will cater for the first team training and treatment facilities, the club's youth academy and its ladies and disabled teams. It is expected to comprise eight full-size grass pitches within a state-of-the-art training complex over approximately 23 hectares.
Brock said: "We're delighted to be involved with one of the world's most famous football clubs to develop this exciting scheme.
"In 1997, the Football Association set out a technical development report for top clubs to improve their academies and the performance of young players. Mills & Reeve's strength in planning law was key to winning the tender and we look forward to working with Chelsea Village to bring the project to a successful conclusion."