A NORTH Somerset secondary school is aspiring to create a public sports complex with new indoor racket facilities and outdoor hockey pitches by 2016.

A planning application is set to be submitted imminently for the first stage of Worle Community School’s vision.

As part of the first phase of plans for the site off Redwing Drive, a new full-size artificial sports pitch, fitness suite, dance studio, changing rooms and caf� will be built as well as multi-purpose rooms to allow a variety of activities to take place.

If approved, building work on the first phase will start next year ahead of an expected completion date in 2013.

A public consultation on the work was held on Tuesday evening at the Worle site and school business manager Keith Perry said: “We want to stage the scheme over the next three to five years and this is only stage one.

“We hope to develop the racket sport side of things and put in an artificial hockey pitch on the school site at some point too.

“We want a facility to complement ones like Hutton Moor Leisure Centre.”

The William Knowles Centre in Winterstoke Road, Weston, and Banwell Pottery in West Street, Banwell - facilities for adults with learning disabilties - are set to close and their services will also be moved to the new complex next year.

By combining services at the new site North Somerset Council estimates a saving of �92,000 a year.

The school has been consulting with parents on the plans and initial results show that two thirds of survey participants would use the gym and more than half would use the facilities all-year-round right through the week.

The survey can still be completed by logging on to www.surveymonkey.com