Construction work on a new £38m regional sports facility in Basildon, Essex, is scheduled to start in October after the local authority appointed Community Solutions for Leisure (CSL) to deliver the scheme.

Basildon Council has also approved a detailed funding plan for the Basildon Sporting Village project, which is set to house the county's first Olympic-sized swimming pool and has been included in the Pre-Games Training Camp guide for the London 2012 Olympics. The new facility, which will include a competition swimming pool, a 400-capacity spectator area, a learner pool, a multi-capable sports hall, gymnastics centre and a health and fitness club with 100 stations and a multi-purpose studio.

A selection of meeting rooms, a climbing wall and café will also be included as part of the Basildon Sporting Village development, while outdoor facilities will include six floodlit artificial turf pitches and an athletics track with a 750-capacity spectator area. Basildon Rugby Club has also received planning permission to establish a new home at the venue. CSL's construction partner, Morgan Ashurst, will build the sporting village, which is expected to open in 2011.

Stephen Horgan, deputy leader of Basildon Council, said: "This is a transformational project for sport, healthy living and the promotion of active lifestyles in the Basildon District and across the region. "We can be proud that we will be creating a facility that will include the only 50 metre pool in Essex and a regional gymnastics centre for gymnasts from novice to Olympian standard. The most important point though is that the Sporting Village is for everybody from residents that want to lead an active life to competition athletes, through to the champions of the future."

Funding has been provided by the council along with grants from Essex County Council, the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), Sport England and Veolia ES Cleanaway Pitsea Marshes Trust.