MANY of Gloucestershire's leading sports clubs have expressed support for Ecotricity and Forest Green Rovers’ Eco Park plans following recent consultation about the project.

The Eco Park proposal would create a centre of excellence for sport and sports science in the South West and the plans were met with excitement by club representatives from a range of sports, including: football, athletics, disability sports, cricket, rugby, swimming, squash, canoeing and archery.

In addition, representatives from Active Gloucestershire, the Football Association, Stroud District Council, SGS College and the disability charity All Sorts attended one of two consultation events held at Museum in the Park in Stroud during October and November.

Around 100 acres in size and located on either side of the A419, half of Eco Park will be dedicated to creating state-of-the-arts sporting facilities, including an all-seater stadium for Forest Green Rovers, training fields, 4G pitches, multi-disciplinary sporting facilities, as well as a sports science hub.

Sporting facilities in the region are currently limited, with a lack of quality floodlit training facilities, indoor space and wider sporting infrastructure, and many clubs are forced to travel as far as Bath and Cardiff to train.

The consultation will inform plans for the sports complex at Eco Park, with the initial application for Outline Planning due to be submitted before Christmas.

Dale Vince, chairman of Forest Green Rovers, said: “Eco Park will be a fantastic new home for Forest Green Rovers and will help to transform sport across the South West by creating state-of-the-art facilities for a variety of sports.

“We’re delighted that clubs across the region are as excited about the proposals as we are. The discussions will help us to realise our vision of creating a welcoming, flexible and open space that will benefit sport and community groups.”

But critics have argued it would taint Eastington’s small rural community.

They say the centre would mean a huge influx of traffic, yet more building on green field sites and ruin on of the ‘gateways’ to Stroud.

The second half of Eco Park will comprise a green technology business park potentially capable of hosting up to 4,000 jobs.

The overall concept includes the potential development of a public transport hub, including a Stroud Park and Ride, and will also see Ecotricity work with the Cotswold Canals Trust to open up part of the ‘missing mile’ of the Stroud water canal beside the M5.