PLANS to transform part of a sports and social club, nearly 30 years on from its last refurbishment, have taken a step forward.

A planning application has been submitted to refurbish parts of the Basingstoke Sports and Social Club, in Fairfields Road, with the hope of starting work on the club at the start of the next year.

The plans submitted to Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, include four new outdoor changing rooms, two squash changing rooms, and another two changing rooms for officials.

There are also plans to add downstairs toilet facilities and changing rooms, as well as modernising the club to help accommodate disabled players.

If the plans are approved, the club can then look for grants and sponsorships to help pay for the redevelopment. The last major refurbishment of the club was in 1990.

Club chairman, Steve Rayner, said: “It’s now a matter of crossing our fingers and waiting for around 13 weeks while we wait for the permission to come through. At the moment, it is unfortunate that we can’t accommodate as many people and teams as we should be able to, including women’s teams and disabled people.

There are some really good players that I have seen that we would like to have here, but we can’t accommodate them at the moment.”

Currently, given the number of changing rooms and facilities available, it is limiting the number of teams they can support.

The club was originally built in 1865 and is also used by BCoT and Fairfields School for practice during the week.

Mr Rayner added: “Providing we get the approval, we need to raise the money to get the work done. We will be applying for funding from the council, as well as Sport England, and we will be talking to other funders including local businesses and others willing to help.””

To donate call 01256 473 646.