LAW firm DMH Stallard’s planning team has been named as one of the UK’s most prestigious planning awards for its work on Brighton and Hove Albion Football Club’s new training complex.

The £32 million American Express Elite Football Performance Centre was commended at the Royal Town Planning Institute’s Awards for Planning Excellence 2017 at a ceremony held in London.

The RTPI Awards are the most established and respected awards in the UK planning industry.

Running for 40 years, they celebrate exceptional examples of planning and the contribution planners make to society.

Peter Rainier, director of planning at DMH Stallard, said: “We are delighted to have been commended in recognition of our work.

“I congratulate the whole team for their efforts as well as the officers and members at Adur District Council because this project was very much a partnership.

“The RTPI awards are an important event for the planning sector and it was a huge honour to be recognised in them.

“The training centre is fantastic and provides everything a professional footballer could need, with training pitches and state-of-the-art medical and gymnasium facilities.”

It’s not the first planning award the performance centre in Lancing has won.

It was previously recognised at the Royal Town Planning Institute’s South East Awards, winning Excellence in Planning for the Community and Well-being.

In addition to the facilities, the development is making a major contribution in the community by giving local people, young and old, access to the internationally recognised venue.

Disability sports clubs and groups use the community pitch on a weekly basis with other bespoke activities regularly scheduled to support people with specific disabilities.

DMH Stallard has worked with Brighton and Hove Albion Football Club ever since the windswept days of the Withdean Stadium, submitting more than 50 planning applications during the journey to the 30,000 seater AMEX and the new training headquarters.

DMH Stallard’s planning consultancy is one of the largest teams of chartered planners within a Top 100 law firm anywhere in England.

The firm employs nearly 300 staff across offices in Gatwick, Brighton, London and Guildford.

The club estimates it is contributing £2 million each year to the economy in Worthing and Adur through the use of local shops, services and contractors.

Most significantly, more than 250 people are employed as a direct result of the new training complex.

DMH Stallard has worked with the Albion ever since the windswept days of the Withdean Stadium, submitting more than 50 planning applications during the journey to the 30,000-seater Amex and the new training headquarters.

The site is regarded as a major boost for the local economy.