Herefordshire Council's cabinet has approved a 'fast track' application for lottery funding to build a new swimming pool in Leominster.

The decision means more than £750,000 coming out of council coffers as match funding to secure the support of Sport England in replacing the Sydonia pool, shut earlier this month on health and safety grounds and unlikely ever to open again.

Cabinet Councillor Mike Kimbery (Social Development) admits the amount is more than the estimated £500,000 required to repair the pool's serious structural flaws.

He said: "To address the other issues that have to be dealt with such as the lack of a learner pool, bringing the pool up to the standards of the Disability Discrimination Act and the lack of car parking would (demand) a much larger sum."

A team has been tasked to take the application forward 'as quickly as possible'. The new pool is already at detailed design stage with planning permission passed for land beside the leisure centre.

Sport England has indicated a willingness to match fund 35 per cent of the expected £2.2 million outlay.

Refurbishment of Sydonia is no longer regarded as a realistic option. Officially it is 'unlikely' to ever open again.

The recent health and safety report was so damning as to dictate the speed of closure earlier this month. Sydonia was said to be close to collapse and could have cost lives had it done so - with the council personally liable.

Though the report, several months in compilation, was the first of its kind to cite the potential for such a serious incident, a condition survey from June 1998 - the time of local government transfer - said the pool was in 'very poor condition'.

Sydonia's deterioration has continued, with the repair bill branded too expensive.

Among the more serious problems are: a major water leak from the pool tank; extensive damp throughout the structure; poor electrical and mechanical installation and the state of the roof.

Herefordshire Council has long acknowledged the need for a new pool and, somewhat uneasily, attempted to keep Sydonia open until this was secured.

Hopes for this are now pinned on a first phase lottery bid. Once agreement has been reached in principle a new pool could take at least two years to complete.

midlandands.co.uk:Bill Tanner