A long-awaited sports complex for Earls Barton can now get going after it was granted planning permission.

It’s been more than a decade since the idea for an indoor sports hall, new pavilion and football and cricket pitches were first suggested for the Grange Sports Field off Northampton Road.

And on Tuesday night (Sept 8) the plans were finally rubber stamped when Wellingborough Council’s planning committee voted unanimously to approve Earls Barton parish council’s application.

Speaking after the meeting parish council chairman Peter Morrall said: “This is fantastic news for the village, which has worked hard to make this happen. It has been a long road but we have been able to come up with a really good scheme, which will see all of the village benefit.”

The complex will be built on parish council land, which has been donated over the past few years by various organisations and landowners to enable the scheme to go ahead.

New cricket and football pitches have been laid in the past 18 months after Section 106 planning contributions from David Wilson Homes, which built the nearby The Wickets housing development.

And now work will begin on building out the complex, using parish council funds saved over the years from the precept, plus a series of grant applications will need to be made. Cllr Morrall said he was hoping there would be a capital grant from the Wellingborough council to help pay for the building of the sports hall.

The facilities will be run by the Earls Barton Sports Association which is a partnership of the local sports clubs.

The plans include a floodlit 3G pitch, a 2,000 sq m sports hall, a pavilion with bar, covered seating area and eight changing rooms, a running circuit and outdoor gym facilities. There will also be 146 parking spaces on-site.

The venue will be accessed from Line Way and there will be a one-way system with an exit onto Northampton Road.

A few residents from The Wickets had objected to the scheme, however it was heard at the meeting that the principal for the sports complex had been in place before the homes were built.

At the planning committee member Cllr Andrew Scarborough said: “It is a tremendous effort by the village to come up with something as good as this. I will take time to build it out, but this is an ambitious scheme that will serve the village very well for many years to come.”

Cllr Morrall said the scheme would not have happened without the passion and commitment of many local people including Anne Cleaver, a member of Earls Barton Football Club who sadly died in 2017.