SIX years after the idea was first put forward, plans for a £360,000 new base for Witney’s growing Scout groups has taken a major step forward.

Witney Buttercross Scout Group has finally submitted a planning application to convert the Stable Barn building which stands opposite their current headquarters in Marlborough Lane.

The new base will provide Witney’s three Scout groups, four Beaver colonies, three Cub packs and one unit of Explorers with extra space.

There would also be indoor and outdoor climbing walls, space to practise outdoor skills, and even a slide from the second to the ground floor.

But despite raising £110,000 to buy the building, they still need to raise a further £250,000 for the conversion.

Scout leader Jonathan Longden, 47, is leading the campaign, and as a chartered building surveyor will manage the eventual building project.

Mr Longden said: “It has been a long process – it took three years to buy the building from Barclays Bank, and we had to raise £110,000 to buy it.

“But we are not expecting planning to be a problem and we are excited about what it is to be-come.”

One of the largest scouting groups in the county, Witney Buttercross took over their current HQ, a former chapel in Marlborough Lane, in 1961.

The building underwent a £40,000 refurbishment five years ago, but as the number of youngsters joining Scouting has grown, space has become tight.

They want to sympathetically restore the 18th century Stable Barn, while making it a fun and practical base for Scouting.

The group launched a mammoth fundraising drive in 2006, and raised over £110,000 through public donations, fund-raising events such as packing bags at supermarkets, renting their marquee out, and a grant from Oxfordshire County Council. They now hope to secure the majority of the £250,000 for renovations from further grants and charity funding.

Mr Longden added: “While there is still a way to go, we are confident the town will soon have a fabulous new base for Scouting.”

  • To find out more about the project and how to get involved in fundraising, see the website witneyscouts.org