DETAILED plans for a greatly expanded sports facilities in Swindon have been submitted.

Swindon Borough Council wants to construct a closed road cycling circuit, a BMX track and cyclocross route, and an all-weather football pitch and further new facilities playing fields it owns in Moredon.

And it has submitted a formal application to its own planning committee for permission to build them.

The application says that after the council leased its indoor leisure centres to private operators officers: “were tasked to find ways of delivering an improved, modernised offer in our remaining green field sports.”

The answer in the council’s 2018 Playing Pitch Strategy was to consolidate sports facilities in multi-sport hubs rather than have single independent facilities and pitches scattered across the borough.

The application says of the Moredon plan: “It would provide sufficient footfall to sustain supporting facilities and provide an attractive commercial opportunity to operators.”

The plans show the scheme will provide a I kilometre road cycling circuit, a BMX track, a full-sized all-weather football pitch, and that the existing four football pitches, two cricket wickets and croquet pitch will be kept.

Undulating and wooded grass land to the north of the area will be kept as a public open space but can also be used as a cyclocross circuit.

The pavilion and another building on the site, described as being in ‘a poor state of repair’ will be replaced with a new pavilion.

The car park will also be upgraded. The existing 105 spaces will become 150 car spaces, with nine new accessible spaces, room for two coaches and three mini-buses.

The report adds that the sports hub will help people be more active and healthy and provide some regeneration for 'an area in the higher end of deprivation.'

The borough council will fund the sports development in part my selling off some of the existing land for housing.

A 1.5 hectare patch of land in the north east corner of the site has been earmarked for building 60 homes. The borough council has agreed an outline design proposal and hopes to sell the land to a developer. A separate planning application will have to be made for the housing scheme.