Work to expand Gloucestershire County Cricket Club's ground in Bishopston could get under way later this year after its £10 million development plans were given the green light.

Building work on the County Ground in Nevil Road will be carried out in phases, with the Mound stand, new media centre and pavilion first in line.

The Mound stand will be increased in capacity from 2,400 to 4,900.

The club's chief executive Tom Richardson said: "We are very pleased and this is the first post in the ground but there is a lot more work to be done.

"We've had a meeting about when the work will start. We are hoping to get a fair bit of the work done by the end of 2011.

"We are looking to get cracking as soon as possible and ideally we would like to start this year.

"We still need to secure funding and we have a deadline of the end of 2011 to meet the minimum standard to host international matches."

The Evening Post reported yesterday that the plans had been approved at a Bristol City Council planning meeting the previous evening.

The cricket club said it needed to expand its ground to continue to stage international matches, which it began doing in 1999.

The expanded ground will include a new accommodation block for up to 350 students, which would finance the scheme.

The new ground would take the current capacity of 16,000 to 20,000, with 18,500 seats and 1,500 temporary places on a grassed area in front of the proposed new pavilion.

Residents opposed to the expansion set up a group called HowZat? to fight the proposals. They fear an expanded ground will lead to parking and traffic problems and are worried about late-night noise and stadium lighting.

When the Evening Post visited homes near the ground yesterday reaction from residents was mixed, with some describing the plans as "horrendous" and "stupid", while others said they did not oppose the plans – although all expected parking problems to get worse after the redevelopment. Of the opposition to the plans, Mr Richardson said: "We've consulted with residents on three separate occasions and are aware of what a number of views are."

The area near the cricket ground off Ashley Down Road has become a hotbed of development in recent months with Persimmon Homes constructing houses and a new primary school being built to cater for the high demand for pupil places in Bishopston.