Hampshire County Cricket Club are pushing ahead with plans to redevelop the 150-acre site at the Rose Bowl with additional facilities.

Their latest move - to install a £3million golf driving range and clubhouse - received planning permission on Wednesday from Eastleigh Council.

The 20-acre range will be situated next to the club's existing nine-hole golf course and the futuristic building will house 60 driving bays on two levels.

Work is scheduled to start this summer with completion expected next Spring.

The club's chief executive, Graham Walker, is delighted with getting the green light for the project. "This is part of our plans to provide the very best sporting facilities in the south and we're grateful to Eastleigh for its support. The target area will resemble a Championship course, complete with greens, bunkers and even a waterfall," he says. "We plan to include the latest in modern technology to record the length of every shot, which is really what golfers want to know." Hampshire are still waiting to find out whether planners will allow a 131-room hotel to be built at the entrance to the West End site. All of this is, of course, a far cry from the dark days of last winter when Hampshire were struggling to keep the Rose Bowl project afloat financially. The transformation brought about by chairman Rod Bransgrove and his team in forming a private company and raising funds as a result is certainly bearing fruit. Three million pounds is presently being spent to complete work on the cricket pavilion in time for the start of the new season in April. With the club back in Division 1 of the County Championship and efforts in hand to further strengthen the playing staff it should be a marvellous summer for Hampshire cricket fans.