SOUTHEND could be getting its own sporting village with a host of new facilities being planned for Garon park.

The Norman Garon Trust, which owns land north of the Southend Leisure and Tennis Centre, off Eastern Avenue, has been planning to develop grassland for a host of sports since 2008.

The charity has now submitted an environmental scoping report to Southend Council and its chairman, Philip Tolhurst, said a fully-fledged planning application is set to follow.

The report outlines plans for two football pitches to the standard of the Ryman Premier League, one to League Two standard, and one Astroturf pitch, plus a new cricket square and nursery ground.

Mr Tolhurst said: “We have been looking at a number of options with the intent to add additional sporting and recreational facilities for the benefit of particular groups and the wider community.

“The process has been slower than we would have wished, but we are now moving to making one or more planning applications.

However, there is no preferred or confirmed plan.”

The trust had planned to put a hotel on the site, but that has now been dropped.

The charity’s latest accounts reveal it had an income of £1.365million in 2013/14, but a spend of £1.340million, with income from the golf club the charity owns at Garon Park, as well as rents for pockets of land.

An indoor bowls club is also proposed for the site, as well as a clubhouse.

John Vile, chairman of the Southend Bowling Club, in Tunbridge Road, said the Old Southendian Association approached the club 18 months ago to see if it would be interested in moving to the indoor bowls club at Garon Park.

He said: “It’s an attraction to have a bigger facility, but there are ramifications behind any move. When a firm proposal comes forward, we would have to go to our members to decide what they wanted to do.”

The environmental report, put together by consultants Johns Associates, says the proposals will help “arrest a decline in sporting participation in the area”, particularly for football and cricket.

Graham Longley, Southend councillor responsible for economic development, said: “This town is always happy to see developments which will benefit residents and we look forward to seeing the details of the proposals.

Hopefully, they will add sporting facilities rather than replacing older ones.”