A NEW pitch and pavilion could be built at the County Ground within a year.

Swindon Borough Council and the Swindon Town Football in the Community Trust won planning permission for the 3G pitch and new clubhouse in March.

David James, leisure officer at the borough, told parish councillors funding for the project had been secured and it was hoped building works would start this summer.

At a meeting of South Swindon Parish Council’s leisure and amenities committee, Mr James said: “We’re hopeful by this time next year we’ll be having an opening event and it will all be done.”

The new facilities will allow STFIC to run more community training sessions. Currently the trust manages school holiday football schemes as well as initiatives to get overweight football fans into shape. The pavilion will also be used by athletics club Swindon Harriers.

John Holloway, head of STFIC, said earlier this year: “A new state-of-the-art facility in central Swindon will allow existing and new participants the opportunity to access these projects and programmes to enhance and benefit people’s health and wellbeing.”

Cash to build the new facilities was there, Mr James said.

“We’re going through various approval processes to get everything signed. We are looking to commence later this summer.”

But there was still some uncertainty over whether the pitch or the pavilion would be built first. The all-weather 3G pitch will take up to 16 weeks to build, while the pavilion will take between nine months and a year.

While the news is expected to be welcomed by sports fans, the scheme has not been without its critics.

Last year, dog walkers who exercise their pets in the park hit out at the plans. Julie Collins, of Shrivenham Road, said: “There’s somebody out there all the time. It will be an awful loss to the community.

“This was supposed to be left by the Goddard family for the people of Swindon. It’s just being taken away from us.”

Bob Wright, a central ward councillor, said: “You can play cricket there and hold community events like netball competitions, but you won’t be able to once this happens.

“They want to run a 3G pitch right up to 9pm, with floodlights on, in all weathers – that has caused division in the community.”

Plans for the facility were unveiled late last year after the council agreed a 25-year lease of the land. The trust has worked on the project to create its own sports facility and community clubhouse overlooking the 3g pitch for the past five years and Jon Holloway said it had been a working life-long ambition.