ANDOVER looks set to get a new urban sports facility at the Shepherd Spring Lane car park.

Test Valley Borough Council’s Cabinet has been asked to approve a £140,000 addition to its 2013/14 capital programme to fund the facility.

The money will come from housing developers’ financial contributions and the Government’s new homes bonus fund.

In a report to the Cabinet leisure portfolio holder Toney Ward said: “Urban sport includes skating, BMX and the increasingly popular use of scooters.

“The rise in popularity of these activities nationwide has not been matched by the provision of facilities, which often results in large groups of young people using the streetscape for their sport.

“Where facilities have been provided, these have often not been user focused and have failed to deliver the required outcome, often rendering the feature poor and therefore unused by the target audience.”

He says the move would provide an opportunity to deliver a ‘true Olympic legacy’ project for the town and alleviate pressure on town centre sites where street sports conflict with other public life.

The idea follows consultation with 178 young people, more than half of whom identified the Shepherd Spring site for the new facility.