Multi-million pound plans to transform land around City’s Etihad stadium into the ‘world capital of sport’ have been given the green light by town hall chiefs.

A masterplan that will deliver a string of new community facilities including a sixth form college, sports science centre and a headquarters for national sports’ governing bodies, were welcomed by Manchester council’s executive yesterday.

The ‘Eastlands community plan’ – the details of which were revealed in the M.E.N. following the announcement of City’s record stadium deal with sponsors, Etihad, last week – will now go out to public consultation over the summer.

The money-spinning Blues deal, which includes renaming their Eastlands ground the Etihad stadium and the surrounding Sportcity complex the Etihad campus, was described as ‘genuinely good news’ for the city by Eddie Smith, chief executive of New East Manchester.

He said: “It gives us a very robust platform with which to underpin the proposals set out in the Eastlands community plan.”

The plans are the latest in a transformation story being spearheaded by a partnership between the council, New East Manchester and the football club.

Basketball, taekwando, badminton, netball, rugby league and rugby union – who want to start a new team in east Manchester – are among a raft of sports who want to contribute to a new ‘sporting mecca’ by creating national-standard facilities for use by both residents and elite athletes.

They will sit alongside City’s own proposals to expand on to land opposite the stadium in Openshaw West. Included in the council’s community plan are a multi-sports village and national speedway stadium at Belle Vue and a new leisure hub and swimming pool on Grey Mare Lane.

Council bosses will also build a sixth form institute that can educate both local teenagers and products of an expanded Manchester City academy, a centre of excellence in sports science and medicine with Manchester university, and a ‘house of sport’ to accommodate national sports chiefs.

Mr Smith said the £18-20m the council will yield from City’s deal with Etihad could make a ‘significant contribution’ to the facilities contained in the plan which they hope to build over the next five years. He added: “This is a real opportunity for the area to move on and progress.”