A picturesque playing field is set for a £2m makeover despite fears an entrance to London’s proposed super sewer could be headed for the same site.

News of the Football Foundation’s £547,000 donation was officially announced last Friday despite continuing fears that part of the Barn Elms site could be used as an entrance for the proposed 20-mile Thames Tunnel.

If selected by Thames Water, residents close to the site could face construction work 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for more than three years, and it is unclear how it would affect plans for the makeover of the green space.

Colin Sinclair, Richmond Council’s head of sport and fitness, said: “[In terms of the super sewer] I don’t think it is a concern as I don’t think it would affect what we are doing and it would not go across playing fields.”

Thames Water declined to comment on whether the sewer plans could affect the development.

After receiving the grant, Richmond Council’s current sum for the sports regeneration project stands at a total of £1.954m only £339,000 short of the £2.293m needed to fund the project and enough to start putting the contract out for tender.

Made up of grants from the London marathon charitable trust, the Lawn Tennis Association, Barnes Workhouse Trust, Veolia and the council, the funds will go towards increasing the number of football and rugby pitches from 13 to 17 and upgrading other facilities.

Under regeneration plans, developed with the Barn Elms Sports Trust (BEST), the site will also get a new pavilion, new tennis courts, a multi-use area for tennis and netball, and two new cricket squares.

Councillor Pamela Fleming, Richmond Council’s strategic cabinet member for community development, said the project was a great success story.

She said: “The Football Foundation’s decision to put more than half a million pounds into this scheme is a massive victory for local people.

“It is a real example of what local people can do if they feel very strongly about a project.”

Paul Thorogood, the Football Foundation’s chief executive, said the grant represented excellent news for sport in Barnes.

He added: “Richmond Council, the Surrey County FA and the Barn Elms Sports Trust deserve immense credit for their work in making this happen.”

Work will start once a contractor has been commissioned.

It is hoped it will be ready by summer 2012.