POOLE Town have unveiled plans for a £1 million redevelopment of Branksome Recreation Ground which would include a new home for the club.

The high-riding Sydenhams Wessex League outfit have decided they need to move from their current Tatnam Farm ground if they are to meet strict Football Association criteria to progress up the pyramid ladder.

Dolphins lost their Southern League status soon after being thrown out of Poole Stadium in the early 1990s through no fault of their own.

They have led a nomadic existence since then, but could be on the verge of an exciting new future if Poole Borough Council back plans to improve Branksome Rec.

The ambitious football club want to refurbish the current pavilion and changing rooms as well as build a new ground on Recreation Ground land capable of staging Southern League football.

They will also build three new multi-use games areas, which could stage a variety of sports, not just football, and include facilities for disabled sportsmen and women.

Poole Town would take over the administration of the use of the current public pitches at Branksome Rec over weekends from the local authority.

In all, there would be five football pitches, one cricket pitch and the club said the whole site would be maintained better and have better lighting.

Dolphins vice-chairman Chris Reeves said: "We are in process of getting the proposed project priced, but our best guess is about £1.1 to £1.2 million.

"We want to redevelopment a ground for our first team to be able to go up the next couple of levels in the non-league pyramid."

Reeves added: "We have a track record of improving the club's facilities and have spent tens of thousands at Tatnam, so we will be expecting to be putting a significant amount of money into this project.

"We've already put our minds towards fund-raising. How much we put in depends on the grants we get. Our initial talks with various grant aid bodies has been very encouraging.

"We're principally looking at the Football Foundation and Football Stadia Improvement Fund, but there are other grants available for specific areas of this redevelopment that come under the umbrella of the Football Foundation as well.

"We also envisage working closely with Gary Knight at the Dorset County Football Association to find out other ways we can raise cash.

"We've spoken to the local authority about a degree of financial support through their recreational open spaces division. My guess is it would take a year or so to sort out the finan-ces, so if we could get planning permission in place, I would expect 2010 to be the calendar year when we expect to be in situ if everything went through.

"But I want to stress we are concentrating on the public consultation aspect at the moment.

"A public meeting is being held at Branksome Recreation Ground pavilion on Saturday, April 19 from 10am to 1pm when detailed drawings of the proposed redevelopment will be on show.

"Members of Poole Town Football Club, Poole Borough Council and the architects, Hollington, of Bournemouth, will be in attendance to answer questions.

"We invite everyone to come along because we want to assure the public that our plans are good and will benefit the recreation ground and the community in general.

"Our aim is to improve the existing site and make it better for everyone from sports fanatics, children and dog walkers who will still be able to use the recreation ground as they can now."