TOWN chief executive Nick Watkins has promised fans the club will not be plunged back into debt as the wheels begin to turn on the County Ground redevelopment.

A project management firm has been identified for the phased development, with a financial viability study and business plan being created over the next 12 weeks as Swindon prepare to revamp their current home.

Chairman Andrew Fitton’s consortium have put in close to £10million of their own money since taking over in January 2008, wiping out debts, making the club financially stable, and building a side which is now challenging for League One promotion.

And Watkins insists Town will not undo all their good work with an expensive white elephant on their current site.

“The whole process of going about building a financial model is to test the waters,” the chief exec told the Advertiser.

“We are not going to build something that the people of Swindon do not want or need. A football club cannot survive on something that is only used once a week or once a fortnight.

“You have to sweat the asset and we want to do that seven days a week by making sure it there is demand for whatever we build there.

“We intend to build something that was a very good chance of generating revenue to offset the costs of the redevelopment.

“We will not go out and build a whopping great stadium in Swindon and land ourselves with £27million of debt or something like that. No way.”

Town’s new-found financial stability under Fitton & Co will be welcome news to the club’s long suffering fans, who have ridden a rollercoaster at times in support of their side.

But Watkins admits they want to turn stability into sustainability, and take the pressure off Swindon’s investors.

“We always thought that within two years we would be looking at ground redevelopment - Andrew (Fitton) and I always discussed the start of 2010 as a target, because by then the club’s problems would be sorted,” he said.

“The club had to get back on its feet first and into a healthy position, and that has now happened. It is now financially stable.

“The investors have put close to £10million in to date to get the club to where it is now. They cannot continue, and nor can they be expected, to keep pumping money into the club at this level.

“The club has got to find what we term financial sustainability. That isn’t to say that they won’t continue to invest - of course they will. But they will invest at a reasonable level.”

TOWN manager Danny Wilson and top scorer Billy Paynter have been nominated for respective League One manager of the month and player of the month awards for February.

It is the second month running that the pair have been up for the honours, with Paynter previously picking up the award for January.