It is a real shame that 2 years have been wasted but wa can now look forward to the new pool, with construction/demolition beginning in 2009 and completion in the summer of 2010. We need to make sure these timescales do not slip.
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Michael, whilst we need this project to get under way and succeed, I have to say that this timescale seems very short given the committment to consultation and EU procurement requirements for selecting designers and contractors, which the Council needs to comply with. What we want is a properly thought out and constructed development, not a rush job conceived out of guilt and concern about concealing past errors as quickly as possible. Nor should the Council leaders be raising public expectations out of panic. This pool reasonably needs another year in the design and procurement/consultation phase of its life including obtaining planning permission, followed by at least 15- 18 months in construction. That takes us to spring 2012 at least. If the Council are saying otherwise they must know something about EU tendering procedures and their own planning system that the rest of us don't. I dont know how old Wavelengths is but it probably preceded the new EU arrangements, so was possible in a shorter time frame.