AN IRVINE gymnastics club’s ambitious plans to create Scotland’s first non-Olympic centre of excellence has been given a boost.

Irvine Bay Gymnastics Club have been working to develop ‘The Flipside 2’ – an extension to their current ‘Flipside’ home.

The club said it was delighted by the news that they had received planning permission for the £750,000 development.

The existing gymnastics facility is undersized and the club developed its plans to extend it, both to provide Scotland’s first non-Olympic discipline centre of excellence and meet demand for gymnastics.

Amanda Boucher, head coach at Irvine Bay Gymnastics Club, said: “We have just outgrown the current facility.

“We have 200 members on a waiting list and kids in the British squad who are competing for Team GB in October and kids in the Scottish squad and the facility we are in does not have what they need for that level or to train them Irvine gymastics club jumps for joy as £750k centre of excellence gets okay at that standard, so it’s necessitated a move for expansion.

“With a better facility we can now offer things for more people. We are hoping to break ground before the end of this year.”

The new facility will compliment the adjacent Irvine Vision Quarry road development, being undertaken by North Ayrshire Council.

The new facility will also be used to promote health and wellbeing outside of gymnastics.