PLANNING permission for a £3.6 million new sporting hub in Moredon could be submitted later this summer, council chiefs have said.

Swindon Borough Council’s cabinet have already approved the multi-million pound spending for a new 3G football pitch and cycling tracks on the Moredon Recreation Ground site.

And at a public meeting outlining the plans, council officers said they wanted to submit a planning application in August or September. A public consultation on the design brief for developers interesting in building up to 60 homes next to the new sports hub will be launched around the same time.

Kathy Sherratt, head of operational property at the council, said it was hoped a full planning application for the sporting hub and any potential design brief would be discussed by the planning committee before the end of the year.

She added: “Once and if planning permission is secured, and it’s not a given the planning permission will be secured, the council will embark on a marketing campaign.” That campaign would be to find someone to run the sports facilities: “It’s unlikely the council will run the sports facility. The intention will be for a third party to run either parts or the whole site.”

Around 30 people packed the Moredon Community Centre to hear about plans for the site.

The council wants to install a new 3G all-weather football pitch, improve existing football and cricket grass pitches, build a further three croquet lawns and install a massive new set of cycle facilities, including a BMX pump track and 1km road racing track.

However, the project is likely to be reliant on securing cash from sports funding bodies British Cycling and the Football Association. The council has said it will ringfence cash made from the sale of a 1.5 hectare area of land for the development of around 60 houses.

Jim Grant, ward councillor for Rodbourne Cheney, said: “I wish the housing wasn’t there, but we live in the real world and it will pay towards the whole project.

“We’ve got to accept that. The most important reason to accept the houses is that it keeps the site green. If we don’t go down this route, that whole site may well be open to more development.”

Residents questioned why the site was being developed at all, saying they had heard the recreation was subject to a covenant preventing it from being built upon.

But the borough's Kathy Sherratt said searches of the Land Registry showed no covenants had been placed on the land: "A lot of that land was acquired for building."

Members of the croquet club at Moredon complained they were being expected to put up £200,000 for new lawns, while the cycling clubs and football clubs were not being asked to contribute. The move was branded unfair. However, the council said they were "not saying no" to any sports.

Coun Kevin Small urged the council to support the poorer croquet club.

The Mannington councillor recommended residents get involved in the forthcoming planning consultations: "Now is the time to get your opinions in."