A SCALED-DOWN plan for new sports changing rooms in Wallingford has been given £100,000 by South Oxfordshire District Council in the hope it will bring in the rest of the money needed.

Wallingford Sports Trust, which manages Wallingford Sports Park in Hithercroft Road, announced last year a plan to invest £925,000 in the new facilities.

But when the trust did not get the support it needed from Sport England, it decided to scale down the proposal from a two-storey, eight-room block to a six-room, one-storey block costing £400,000.

The park is owned by the district council and managed by the trust.

A grant of £100,000 for the original scheme was approved by district councillors last year and leader John Cotton said officers have just “signed off” the grant to the revised scheme.

He added: “I’m delighted we are supporting this plan for new changing rooms.

“By putting in our money first, we hope the project will then attract other grant funding. A six-room block should support the park’s needs in the short to medium term. There are lots of different sports played at the park and the existing changing rooms have become quite outdated.”

Sports trust chairman John Atkins said it would soon find out if a bid for £75,000 to Sport England has been successful. He added: “A £50,000 grant from the environmental body WREN has been awarded, and subject to us getting the funding from Sport England, we have a verbal agreement from Wallingford Rugby Club for £85,000.

“Then if there is a shortfall we will borrow the money – we already have a builder lined up.”

Park manager Dave Greedy added: “It would be fantastic if we could get new changing rooms – we have been waiting a long time for this.”

Father-of-two Mr Atkins, 69, from Cholsey, said it would take 26 weeks to complete the building work meaning the new facility could be finished by next summer. He added: “There has been a lot going on at the sports park – £32,000 has been spent on resurfacing the car park and about £40,000 has been spent improving the rugby clubroom, with some money made available by the Rugby Football Union, and money raised at the Rugfest music festival.

“And Sport England has made about £70,000 available to provide new drainage for one of the rugby pitches affected by Mill Brook.”

The sports park, which covers 26 acres, includes a floodlit all-weather pitch.

It is host to the rugby club, Wallingford Hockey Club, AFC Wallingford, Petanque Wallingford, Portcullis Tennis Club, Hithercroft Squash Club and ABM Skittles Club.

The clubs have 1,800 members, about half of them juniors, and 2,500 people a week use the facilities. The existing changing rooms date back to 1974.