PETERSFIELD Town Council could be left with a "massive white elephant" if the town's football clubs leave their Love Lane home, it was claimed this week. Petersfield Town Football Club, and Petersfield Town Juniors FC are seeking a move away from the council-owned playing fields as part of the process of creating a proposed new sports village at Penns Place. It would mean the senior club vacating the existing clubhouse and the pitch close to Churcher's College, while the juniors would leave their Love Lane pavilion. But according to town council grounds committee chairman, Chris Jenner, the move could leave a hole in taxpayers' pockets. He said: "It would cost us a lot if they went to Penns Place. And although Town Juniors are saying they want to leave, they still want us to spend money doing up the pitches. "They want us to spend a lot of money and I am not convinced that it is in the interests of the town if they are leaving. "No other sports clubs will want to come to rent Love Lane if they see better facilities are available up at Penns Place. "If they all move on, we will be left with a massive white elephant." The move hinges on an ambitious land-swap deal involving Churcher's College and the town council which would be orchestrated by East Hampshire District Council. As revealed by The Petersfield Herald last year, the Ramshill-based school would use the vacated Love Lane ground, while land they own at Penns Place would be taken over by the football club. Town Juniors' chairman, Ian Essai, also admitted last year that the club was outgrowing its current home and wanted the senior club to join them in attempting to move away. If successful, the move would make progress through the Wessex League easier, as the club's pitch and changing facilities would reach a higher level of FA regulations. Mr Essai said: "The juniors are driving this project forward. But the essence of all of this is that Churcher's College has, in the past, expressed an interest in the grounds the senior team uses, as they are flat and have planning permission for floodlighting. "We have asked the senior club whether they want to come with us. "There is a lot of delicate discussion in terms of realising this goal. But it is not going to happen this year or next year. It is a long- term strategy to have both clubs playing together at Penns Place. "But the question is, still how do we make that happen? We are still going through the steps." EHDC's community manager, Michael O'Mahoney, agreed that talks were at an early stage and that a lot depended on Petersfield Town Council's approval of the scheme. "The town council is the key stakeholder in the land. So the first step is to get a steer from members on whether they support the idea," he said. "If they do, then we would be able to move on as fast as possible. "We are certainly keen to support the move, but we are certainly mindful that there are residents and other parties involved in this. "There is a recognition that there is sensitivity across the board when we are talking about this kind of idea. "It is difficult to put a time-frame on this at the moment, as there is a degree of complexity and there are still a number of hurdles." Town councillors were due to receive correspondence from the football club at a meeting of the grounds committee last night (Thursday). It is the latest chapter in a long-running bid to provide the town with state-of-the-art sports facilities. Last year, Churcher's College was controversially granted permission to build an all-weather pitch at the rear of its playing fields, backing on to Shear Hill. Shortly afterwards, Petersfield Rugby Club was handed a £150,000 EHDC grant to help improve its changing rooms at Penns Place. And in May, The Petersfield School announced it had entered into negotiations over a possible land deal with Tesco on The Causeway, which could fund an overhaul of its sports facilities for use by the community. • A spokesman for Churcher's College was unavailable for comment as The Herald went to press.