Glenafton Athletic have announced a plan to upgrade Loch Park, saying it will benefit the whole community.

The club announced that they have been successful in securing funding from the East Ayrshire Renewable Energy Fund for the installation of Phillips LED 300 LUX floodlights at Loch Park.

After waiting for planning permission to be granted, their chosen contractor for the works, Halliday Lighting will then begin the programme of works.

It is expected the programme of works will take roughly three weeks.

The Glens have also secured funding for a summer pitch renovation to be carried out at Loch Park, and they are in process of submitting an application for an SFA club license, allowing them to progress through the pyramid scheme, and compete in the Scottish Cup.

Steven Kerr, development and commercial manager at Glenafton Athletic hailed the “historic” events.

He said: “This we feel is a historic day for Glenafton Athletic Football Club and the village of New Cumnock.

“Since Covid restrictions were lifted and the football has restarted, we have successfully worked in partnership with New Cumnock Development Trust to turn Loch Park into a multi-use community asset that is utilised by more groups and people within the community.

“This is a major step forward in the process to turn Loch Park into a multi-use community asset, and we believe that with the community benefit money that will arise from the windmills located close to New Cumnock, that a community run synthetic pitch at Loch Park is the next obvious step.

“I would like to specially thank Laura Pagan of the NCDT for the work that she has done at Loch Park in the New Cumnock community.

“Through her efforts at Loch Park we now have a Glenafton Athletic Walking Football team and we will aim to get more sessions announced shortly.

“In terms of the application, I would also like to thank Margo Crolley of East Ayrshire Vibrant Communities for her input, and I would also like to thank Keith Stewart of East Ayrshire Council, whose technical knowledge and expertise has been a great help with the application, and I’d also like to thank him for his assistance in helping myself and the Glens prepare for the soon to be submitted application for an SFA club license.”