Gloucestershire County Cricket Club (GCCC) has unveiled new proposals for the £10m redevelopment of the County Ground in Bristol in a bid to retain the venue's international status beyond 2011.

Under England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) guidelines, international cricket venues must be able to offer a minimum capacity of 18,000 seats, world-class media facilities, corporate entertainment facilities and a range of technical requirements. GCCC's plans include increasing the County Ground's seating capacity to 20,000, a new media centre, an upgraded public gymnasium and swimming pool, improved corporate suites and enhanced education facilities, while accommodation for 550 students may also be provided to help fund the scheme.

The project, which will see the media centre and corporate suites being incorporated into the expansion of the existing pavilion, has been developed in order to coincide with Bristol City Council's plans for a new primary school on the site of adjacent playing fields. A public consultation has now been launched by the club into the proposals for the transformation of the County Ground, which currently only has a permanent seating capacity of 3,668 and requires the installation of temporary seats to increase the capacity to a maximum of 16,000 for one day international fixtures.

GCCC chief executive Tom Richardson said: "We have to comply with ECB standards if one day internationals are to continue at the County Ground and if we are going to be one of the venues for the future World Cups. These matches are essential to provide the funds to develop players of international standing and have positive economic spin-off benefits for the city. "We believe the scheme is both imaginative and sensitive to our surroundings and represents the very best that can be achieved given the constrictions of the site which has been our home for over 130 years."