SWINDON Town Football in the Community Trust are hoping to create a sporting hub that the local community can be proud of after teaming up with athletics club Swindon Harriers.

The Trust announced their plans last week to develop a sporting and community facility on the County Ground extension which will include a 3G playing pitch as well as the state-of-the-art building.

Head of the Trust Jon Holloway has worked with both the Harriers and Swindon Borough Council in the last 18 months to bring the project into fruition and is excited about creating a sporting hub for that the local community will benefit from.

“We’re well aware there is lots more work still to be done, it’s a big project but a really exciting time,” he told the Adver.

“We’ll, hopefully, be looking to put full planning permission in next month and then take it from there.

“Around Swindon, people are certainly crying out for more sporting facilities.

“As a community trust, we’ve been growing in the last five or six years and to have a central facility is high on our agenda.

“We spoke with the Harriers, going back 18 months, and they’re crying out for new facilities.

“They have had to survive with sub-standard changing facilities and toilets and they have got porta cabins at the moment.

“As much as they have got a nice track facility, their additional changing facilities and social facilities are not fit for purpose.

“It made sense to work in partnership with them and working alongside the borough council, we will create something that will benefit the local community in the heart of Swindon.

“We’re all on the same page and working and striving towards achieving an inspirational sporting facility.”

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The hub proposals include a 3G pitch as well as the state-of-the-art building

It is anticipated that the build, inspired by similar builds at Championship sides Burton Albion and Nottingham Forest, will cost up to £1.6million, with the funding for the project coming in the form of grants from bodies such as Sport England, the Premier League and the Football Association, something that cannot be confirmed until they have been granted full planning permission.

The Trust will be holding a public consultation on Wednesday, March 15, in the Legends Lounge at the County Ground from 3.30pm to 7.30pm where further plans and questions regarding the project can be discussed.

And while Holloway is anticipating some opposition to the plans, he hopes the benefits to the surrounding community will win people over.

“It is huge for us to have it in the heart of Swindon and really revitalise this local area,” he added.

“We understand there will be some resistance, there always is, but this is 100 per cent a community facility and it will benefit so many people.

“We want to discuss the programme, promote the programme and take on board comments from the local community and get everybody supporting the project to get it to the next stage.

“If we do deliver, and we’re going to do everything in our powers to deliver it, it certainly will be worthwhile and hopefully for generations to come.”