THE first step in the fight by Evesham United to move from its Common Road ground to a new home may have been won, but there's a long way to go before The Robins' dreams come true.

Councillors at a Wychavon planning meeting last Thursday voted by 13 to six to approve the controversial plans to move to land west of Cheltenham Road in principal - providing there is no objection from the Highways Agency, whose report is still awaited.

If all goes well United will get permission to change the agricultural land to association football use.

However, the club must get detailed planning permission passed for a clubhouse, a main pitch and two practice football pitches, together with the construction of a spur road off the Evesham bypass before work can start.

Wychavon district councillors deliberated for more than one-and-a-half hours before they backed the re-location, during which dozens of letters from objectors were read out.

Those living in the Cheltenham Road/Lavender Close area, nearest to the pitch, are furious about the planning meeting's outcome.

Cheltenham Road resident Keith Taylor said: "We will fight the detailed plans every step of the way if they get that far. We are not convinced the football club has proved a real need to move."

Of the 13 councillors in favour at last week's meeting, town and district councillor Ken Cartwright, said: "I have lived in Evesham all my life and think what we are being given is a wonderful thing.

"If we don't agree to this facility Evesham United Football Club might go out of being."

Coun Tony Hotham, the new chairman of Wychavon who represents Hanbury, said: "I have tried to view this totally objectively without being pressurised by local people.

"I believe Evesham is a town that should have a successful football club. Wherever you are going to put this it is going to be in open countryside."

Coun Martin Jennings, who represents Evesham South, said: "The UK is a Third World country in terms of sporting facilities and Evesham is no exception.

"Soccer is probably the most popular game in the world and decent facilities is what Evesham needs now."

In opposition coun John Payne, who represents the Hampton ward, said the plans would spoil the gateway to the town and he was afraid that fill-in development would follow between the nearest house and the site.

Coun Gerry Barnett, representing Hinton-on-the-Green and Aston Somerville parish councils, said: "This is the wrong site. I am particularly concerned about a licensed club in the open countryside, which has got to be surrounded by a high 8ft fence."

He added that the club would be a commercial venture operating seven days a week, and not just on Saturday afternoons while the matches were on.

Head of planning Jack Heggarty said that he would have to bring the plans back to committee for re-consideration if the Highway's Agency have objections.

Alternatively, the club would still have to sign a legal agreement complying with a large list of conditions.

They include a detailed screen landscaping scheme, highway improvements to include new footpaths, cycle lanes and pedestrian refuge or a similar crossing in Cheltenham Road, re-siting of a public right of way and an archaeological evaluation.

Club chairman Jim Cockerton said: "We are quite happy to comply with Wychavon's conditions. We have been working in conjunction with the Highways Agency and are confident that there will be no problem."