“IF THERE was a situation where we could hold the inaugural meeting at the end of this season then we will,” says chief executive of Gaming International Clarke Osborne after Swindon Robins’ new stadium moved a step closer over this week.

Details of the facility have been revealed after the final stage of the planning application process was submitted.

With the reserved matters now in, Swindon Borough Council will run their eye over the plans, something that could take up to two months, and if everything is satisfactory then work can commence.

The early stages of the development have already begun in preparation for the go ahead and then the project can begin.

“All of that project is already planned out but we have to finalise certain details and all of that is going on now, including what I would call an interesting logistical exercise,” said Osborne.

“We have to build the new stadium whilst the old stadium is operating and as we know, they are in quite close proximity.

“There is quite a lot of planning work we are doing to make sure that the existing stadium operates and the customers can get access safely, whilst we’re taking out a chunk of our land where the contractors are building the new stadium.

“There is a lot of activity going on behind the scenes at the moment.”

However, with the five-month project unlikely to start for another two months, it is doubtful whether work will be completed by the time the Robins' season is set to finish at the tail-end of August.

“The frustration is when do the five months start? But it is still going to take five months,” added Osborne.

“It is very difficult to say (when fans will be in the new stadium) because people, quite rightly, hold onto these statements and come back and bash me over the head with it.

“If you think about it, the earliest time, when you add things up, is probably seven months, so with a bit of leeway you say eight months.

“I think we will be at the end of this current season before we can move over.

“If there was a situation where we could hold the inaugural meeting at the end of this season then we will, we’ll move as fast as we can.

“In order to make up time, or to be as efficient as we can in the building of the new stadium, we have designed a lot of the buildings on the stadium so that they can be manufactured in bits off site.

“Because of that they are very fast, comparatively, and they are environmentally efficient.”