Council chiefs today pledged that the creation of the Odsal Sporting Village was now a top priority.

The construction contract for the multi-million pound project will be put out to tender early next year when consultants publish the final plan.

And the Council’s regeneration chief, Councillor Adrian Naylor, said there was a determination to press ahead with the scheme as a matter of urgency to allow it to be completed around the time of the 2012 Olympics in London.

A firm of specialists has been hired and told to produce a project plan by March at the latest, outlining the cost, timescale and make-up of the scheme.

That plan, funded by regional development agency Yorkshire Forward, will form the template for the tendering process.

The Council has revealed that it is in advanced negotiations with the National Governing Bodies (NGBs) of five different sports: rugby league, tennis, cycling, gymnastics and netball.

Lottery funding for sporting projects used to come through Sport England but is now awarded via NGBs, and the Council believes the Odsal scheme ticks all the boxes when it comes to the funding criteria.

Coun Naylor said: “If we don’t deliver anything else, this is the one we have to do. We can’t get it much higher on our agenda and really want to push ahead with it.”

He said the funding opportunities provided by the Olympics, combined with the fact that Odsal falls within Sports Minister Gerry Sutcliffe’s constituency, meant this was the “best chance ever to deliver the project”. He said: “It should be a spectacular project. By March we should have some idea of what the funding gap is going to be. By then, a team of specialists will have delivered the feasibility study and project outline, which will crystallise what’s going where.

“This is an important time to keep people interested. It’s a tight timescale to deliver at 2012.”

Coun Naylor said the steering group’s determination to press ahead with the project was reinforced by the pressing need to provide the Bradford Bulls with a world-class stadium to meet Super League franchise criteria.

Jane Glaister, the Council’s strategic director for culture, tourism and sport, said: “It’s not about creating a training facility for the 2012 games – we haven’t got that time. We always said in Bradford that we were more interested in a legacy from the Olympic games.”

Council chiefs revealed that the plan for the 48-acre site would include a multi-functional indoor sports hall with facilities for dancing, gymnastics and netball.

Artificial turf pitches are also likely to be included while cricket, hockey and cycling facilities are still being considered. The Council has also held a meeting with the Amateur Swimming Association. Miss Glaister said: “There will be an element of water but we are also planning a city centre strategic swimming pool so we don’t need two massive spaces.

“It would be a more specialist facility up at Odsal to complement the city centre facility.”

Peter Hood, chairman of Bradford Bulls, said: “It needs to be built prior to the Olympics. If it’s a two-year build programme, we have got to start building no later than 2010, but preferably half way through 2009.

“There’s a tremendous amount of work being done on this scheme behind the scenes. I remain optimistic for the scheme and for what it will give to the future of the city and the region.”

The partners in the scheme are Bradford College, the University of Bradford, Sport England, Bradford Bulls, the Primary Care Trust, Bradford Council and Yorkshire Forward.

e-mail: will.kilner@ telegraphandargus.co.uk