A NEW swimming pool in western York could have six lanes after all, it emerged today.

City of York Council is planning to build the pool on the Oaklands School site to replace the Edmund Wilson Baths.

Labour leader Coun Dave Merrett said today that the original scheme involved only a five-lane pool, but many people were unhappy about this.

He said York needed a standard six-lane pool to meet minimum quality standards for swimming provision and maintain the swimming teaching programme.

"Many residents have told me that the current Edmund Wilson pool is busy as it is, and how difficult it is to get their kids into the swimming lessons," he said.

He claimed council officers were now certain that the pool could have six lanes.

"A senior council official has confirmed that officers are working on revised development plans for the new pool at Oaklands, incorporating a sixth lane."

He said Labour councillors had demonstrated in an alternative budget that a six-lane pool would only cost an extra quarter of a million pounds, which was a small cost considering the benefits to residents and the overall cost of any pool.

"Labour has consistently said that swimming facilities cannot be skimped upon. We need to aim for the very best quality in service provision when we are building something for a 50-year life."

A council spokeswoman said the original feasibility study had been for a five-lane pool.

"The main constraint to having a bigger pool has been the space available on the site," she said.

"Detailed designs for the new pool are currently being worked on and officers have continued to look at the potential to accommodate six lanes within the space and budget available.

"Indications are that this may be achievable but we will not be able to confirm it until the scheme has gone through the planning process."


Barbican sale to fund new site

YORK has only had two municipal swimming pools since the Barbican baths closed down in June 2004 - and they have both been in need of repair.

Now, instead of refurbishing the Edmund Wilson Pool in Thanet Road, City of York Council plans to build a brand new one at Oaklands School, soon to be the new York High School.

The authority will use money raised from the sale of land at the Barbican to pay for the pool.

The money will also fund repairs to York's other surviving pool, Yearsley Baths, with the remainder going towards long-term plans for a high-standard pool in the Heslington area, which the council wants to create in partnership with the university.

The council announced last year that it was abandoning plans to build a replacement pool near the Barbican site, claiming it could not afford them any more after receiving less money for the Barbican land than originally expected.