A NEW stand and 4G astroturf pitch are part of ambitious redevelopment plans at McKane Park in Dunfermline.

Proposals include a multi-purpose building with a gym, up to 10 changing rooms, two squash courts and a function suite, as well as upgrading the existing sports lounge into a separate licensed facility and adding a beer garden.

The McKane Park Community Sports Hub is already home to Dunfermline's rugby, cricket and squash clubs and the investment – estimated to be £2-4 million – would deliver a vastly-improved environment for players and spectators, give them a base to be proud of and hopefully encourage more people to get involved.

But they're also looking at the possibility that other sports, such as football, hockey, tennis, badminton and basketball, could be played there too.

Scott Murphy, vice-president of Dunfermline Rugby Club, is on the hub committee and said: "It's a really exciting prospect that will benefit the three clubs but also bring in other sports too.

"From the rugby point of view, we're probably the third-biggest club in Scotland in terms of numbers.

"We've got a youth section from Primary 1 up to under-18s, we've got three men's teams, a women's team and girls' teams, and we are the first established club to be IGR (International Gay Rugby) registered in the world. As our club is LGBT-inclusive it’s all about the rugby and not about who you are.

"We've also got a rugby development officer working with schools."

Development would also help the other two clubs at McKane to grow.

Dunfermline & Carnegie Cricket Club have a first team, second team and Sunday team, as well as two junior teams, while Dunfermline Squash Club have two courts used by their members.

All going to plan, facilities like the 4G pitch would be made available for lease while a new and improved bar would bring in more income and be open for the community to hire, for events like birthday parties and wedding receptions.

Scott, 28, who has played for the first XV and will take over as rugby club president this week, said: "The whole complex is ageing, and ageing fast. The concept of the hub was to get together and look at how we can redevelop McKane.

"While we need better facilities, and every club wants to have the best of the best, the building we're using for training is about 100-years-old.

"It used to be the old cricket pavilion. They built a new one and we've been using the old one ever since.

"Initially, the hub committee were looking at ways of redeveloping the existing clubhouse but now we think it would be better knocking it down and starting again."

He continued: "There's a lot to do as the project is really in its infancy. It'll probably be five-to-10 years before it's completed, hopefully nearer five.

"We're now looking to gauge interest and for people to volunteer their time, whether that's in areas of expertise like planning, finance, grant applications and fundraising, or general help and support for the project.

"The construction itself will be done by a contractor but as the client, we'll want to have people overseeing it to make sure it's what we want."

While the hub will need to raise cash, it's hoped the bulk of the funding will come from governing bodies like the Scottish Rugby Union, Cricket Scotland and Sportscotland, while money could come from Fife Council, the National Lottery and even planning gain from housebuilders.

More than 2,000 houses are due to be built to the south-west of Dunfermline and a new bypass to serve the new estates and take traffic away from the city centre will run by the west of McKane Park and be funded by developer contributions.

Housebuilders are also asked to contribute to community facilities and Scott said: "The western distributor road is scheduled to be built near us and the people who live in all these new houses will need leisure facilities.

"We're hoping we can maybe get some funding in that way."

Anyone interested in getting involved can email hubteam@mckanepark.community.