14/08/05 - County Ground Redevelopment Latest

Paul Davis (Trust STFC, Cllr Peter Stoddart (04/05 Mayor) and Cllr Justin Tomlinson
With The 4000+ Petition Supporting a County Ground Redevelopment

Exciting new plans for Swindon Town's County Ground will see the stadium turned by 90 degrees.

Senior councillors say the football club's redevelopment plans are exciting but challenging and will need support from a lot of groups.

And they are taking legal and financial advice on whether the proposals are viable before any details are made public.

Coun Justin Tomlinson (Con, Abbey Meads), lead member for leisure, culture and recreation, was part of the informal cabinet group which saw the plans.

"Personally I am pleased that the football club has been listening and the plans that we are now looking at are reflecting the meetings that we have had with councillors, community groups and partners like the New Swindon Company," he said.

"The plans in my mind are both very exciting, complicated and challenging.

"There are a lot of groups who will need to support these plans for them to come to fruition and I will be doing all I can to make sure the process continues along swiftly."

No members of the cabinet or the football club would be drawn on the detail of the plans but it is believed that they do not differ greatly from the vision revealed in January this year which included a hotel, conference centre, housing and retail facilities.

The main change is the football pitch being turned by 90 degrees. It is believed that the Nationwide stand would be the only one to be retained.

But full details will not even be released to all councillors until the authority has taken advice on whether the plans are viable.

"We are trying to ascertain if the ideas financially stack up and if it is legally possible for the council to do what they want us to do," said Coun Tomlinson.

The council and the club are both keen to avoid a repeat of the scenes last year when residents came out in protest against plans to a new stadium at Shaw.

If the advice is positive the plans will then be circulated to all councillors.

And the football club is not unduly worried by the issues the council is checking on.

"They are not major stumbling blocks," said chief executive Sandy Gray.

"I think we can get over them and start working together."

In Tuesday's match programme Mrs Gray wrote that she hoped the `long-awaited' redevelopment could start in the close season next year.

Yesterday she admitted that was an ambitious target but said the club needed to make progress on the redevelopment.

"We are excited about the future plans for the club," she said.

"We all want to work together to redevelop the stadium and improve facilities for the people of Swindon.

"I see the club as being the gateway to Swindon."