A BOLD community venture looks set to make Atherton the place to be.

This week a steering committee sifted through super-sporting club ideas aimed to have widespread appeal.

Now they'll run the rule over suggestions and hopefully stage summer consultations, hopeful of Lottery cash backing for their enterprise.

The plan first saw light last autumn when Atherton Rugby Club - made homeless by the closure of the Briarcroft youth centre - set out to raise £350,000 for an ambitious multisports scheme centring on Hesketh Fletcher High School.

Back in October The Journal revealed sporting school teacher John Hodgson's dream to see a new club built on land at Hesketh Fletcher.

The idea was this would serve much more than as a home for the nomadic rugby side. Boxing, bowling, badminton, keep-fit, cricket, athletics, fishing, soccer and educational groups could be involved in a seven days a week operation.

On Monday afternoon a meeting to discuss such a Lottery bid was chaired by Hesketh Fletcher head Don Vickers.

Interested parties included local authority and Church of England representatives plus bowling and rugby organisers and community councillors Joe Clarke and Sue Loudon.

Excited at the prospect Cllr Loudon explained: "Lots of opportunities are possible. We will shortly be meeting again and we need a local residents' delegate and someone from Atherton Town FC to discuss things more deeply.

"As soon as the architect has a positive idea of the layout we can present the idea at a public meeting. The Council's leisure department is keen to have Atherton Central Park included in the scheme.

"No schedule has yet been set but the idea is to get everything drawn-up and a bid put in as quickly as possible."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.