A PLANNING application to build a new, permanent home, for Concorde 216 has been submitted to South Gloucestershire Council.

The application for a new museum with the famous jet at its heart could be up and running by as early as spring 2017.

A decision will be made on a £4.4 million bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund in mid-November a decision which could considerably close the project’s funding gap.

Project director, Lloyd Burnell, said: “If everything goes through the planning stages without any issues then we will hopefully see work starting on the site by around September, next year.

“The project has a number of aims; we want to provide a place for children to come and improve their understanding of science, technology and maths.

“The centre will also provide a place for people to come and learn about the region’s aviation heritage and, obviously, the Concorde is a major part of that and we need to find a fitting home for it.

He added that the project had secured a significant amount of its fundraising goal but that there was still a gap to fill.

“In the last 12 months or so we’ve managed to secure around £2.9 million of funding and I think there’s now genuine momentum in the project – we still have to reduce our fundraising pledge gap but we are in talks for that to be arranged.”

Concorde 216 was the last of 20 Concordes built, with 10 being built in Filton and the other 10 in Toulouse, France, and was also the last aircraft to be built at Filton.

It made its last flight, landing at Filton on Wednesday, November 26 2003.

A number of proposals have been previously made, with a desire for provide a more fitting home for Concorde 216, going back as far as 2007.