SLOUGH Town Football Club is a step closer to coming home after plans for a stadium and school were given the go-ahead.

After a 12-year wait Slough FC fans had reason to celebrate on Tuesday, as plans to build a stadium on the former Arbour Vale school site in Stoke Road, were approved, subject to conditions, by Slough Borough Council’s planning committee.

The 2,000-spectator stadium will include a multi-use synthetic 3G sports floodlit pitch, new changing room facilities, a four court sports hall, and a new playing field for St Joseph’s Catholic High School.

A statement from the club said: “Obviously there is still a long way to go but it’s a huge step in the right direction for bringing Slough Town Football Club home.” Slough fans currently travel to Beaconsfield to watch their team play.

Mike Lightfoot, chairman of Slough Town FC Supporters Trust, said: “We’re excited about it, it’s another step. I honestly believe Slough are coming home.” Proposals for the site to house new free school Lynch Hill Enterprise Academy were also approved, subject to conditions.

It comes after plans to build the school in Farnham Lane, Farnham Royal, were thrown out by South Bucks District Council in June last year.

The school, which is currently based at Lynch Hill Primary School in Britwell, hopes to open its doors at the new site in September. It will provide places for 1,140 pupils aged 11 to 19 with 150 members of staff when fully occupied.

Gillian Coffey, executive headteacher, said: “We are delighted that we are an important step further on with developing the new site.

“The school will deliver much-needed secondary places in Slough while providing facilities to the wider public and creating local jobs through the site development.” Barbara Cotterall, a local resident, objected to both proposals at the meeting as she believes there will be an insufficient amount of parking, a great deal of congestion problems and a detrimental impact to the environment.

She said: “75% of pupils will originate from Britwell which is four and a half miles away – this is a big environmental issue.” Proposed measures to combat concerns include a cycle link, upgrading the bus stops to real time displays and securing school buses.

Roderick Watson, chairman of the Learning Alliance Trust which runs both Lynch Hill Primary and Enterprise Academy, said: “The next step will be the appointment of a headteacher for the school which will be announced next week.

“We are going to set up a liaison group with local residents to keep them informed throughout the construction period and to give them an opportunity to talk to us.” Both applications were approved subject to conditions including Section 106 agreements being met, and have been delegated to the acting planning manager.

Cllr Ted Plenty said: “It’s taken 12 years to reach this stage and Slough football club has been homeless for the same amount of time.

“The beauty of this application is that there is synergy between this and the [Lynch Hill Enterprise Academy] application.” **PICK up a copy of the Observer, out now, for all the latest sports news and action including an interview with Slough joint-boss Jon Underwood** **FOLLOW the Observer on Twitter at @Observer_sports**