TOWN chairman Andrew Fitton is expecting plans for the new-look County Ground to be submitted by March, as they prepare for a “phased redevelopment” of the current site.

Fitton has made no secret of his desire to keep the club in the heart of the town, rather than move to a brand new build on the outskirts, is confident that the first stage could get underway next in 2011.

The chairman also believes that taking down each section - apart from the Don Rogers’ Stand - and rebuilding them one by one is the most sensible solution rather than any temporary relocation.

“Our intention is to go to the council towards the end of the first quarter of next year with a scheme that says what we would like to do,” he revealed.

“I think the council are positive about it being here, but if we do it here then we have a choice.

“We either move out, knock everything down and rebuild while we go and groundshare somewhere. Reading, Bristol, Cheltenham? I don’t think that’s a good answer.

“But if we do a development on the County Ground it happens to lend itself very well to a phased development, which we could do over a period of between two-and-a-half and three years by taking the ground down in sections and rebuilding it.

“It’s what they did at Newcastle, West Ham and a few other places, and that’s what I expect might happen.”

Swindon’s board are currently trying to pick the right developers to take their project forward - and football ground expertise is high on their agenda.

“We are talking to people who have done the stadiums at Swansea, at Cardiff, and people who are involved in the new Bristol (City) stadium,” said Fitton.

“We are talking to five different groups and will soon narrow it down to a shortlist of two - I would think we would probably select someone by the middle of November.

“Even if we got it all approved in 2010, you might be able to cut the first bit of ground in 2011. The way we think it could be done it could take a couple of years to be built, so we are looking at a target of around 2013.”