TROWBRIDGE Town Council has voted to approve applying for a £2.4m loan to pay for the Doric Park project.

At the latest instalment of Trowbridge Town Council, councillors debated whether or not to give their approval to the loan application to pay for the building costs of the proposed Hilperton 3G pitch.

The plans were approved by Wiltshire Council on Wednesday, June 9 and this meant councillors had to agree on the terms of any loan taken out to pay for the pitch.

In the report, it notes that this is a 30-year loan with a fixed interest rate of 2.17 per cent.

This means yearly repayments will amount to £109,263.90 and a total repayment of £3,277,917.

Cllr Antonio Piazza asked why the loan amount had risen from £2.2m, as previously seen.

Town clerk, Lance Allan said that the increase was due to the rise in building costs brought about by the pandemic and other factors, as well as the inclusion of solar panels onto the building.

Trowbridge town council’s consultants are currently out to tender on the project

The former Conservative group leader also questioned the independent review undertaken following the second Doric Park consultation.

Mr Allan attempted to explain that just because there assessment was undertaken by someone with a vested interest in sports it did not mean the assessment was suspect, however, he was interrupted twice by someone shouting “rubbish.”

This forced the mayor, Denise Bates, to scold those in attendance and ask them to not disrupt the discussion.

The motion to apply for the loan passed with 13 voting to apply for the loan and four against.

Now, should HM Treasury approve the loan it will again come back to a meeting of full town council to vote to accept the funds.