Pool board in £5 million bid for Aberdeen
Major step towards 50m facility
Published:
AN OFFICIAL bid to build an Olympic-size swimming pool in Aberdeen has taken a major step forward.
An application for £5 million of government cash towards the pool is likely to win quick approval, ministers said today.
The pool project board has submitted the first of two applications – a business plan to sportscotland – and anticipates a decision within a few weeks.
A more detailed application, focusing on the design of the pool at the new Regional Sports Centre in Linksfield Road, will then be lodged.
First Minister Alex Salmond pledged Scottish Government cash for the 50-metre pool more than a year ago.
Now that project bosses have formally applied for the £5m promised, Sport Minister Shona Robison said the bid would be dealt with quickly.
Ms Robison revealed the news in a parliamentary reply to a question from SNP Aberdeen North MSP Brian Adam. She said the first stage of the application could be dealt with over the next two or three weeks.
She said: “I am pleased that a formal application has now been submitted.”
The second and final stage of the application for the cash will only be made once the pool has won planning approval from Aberdeen City Council.
City councillor Neil Fletcher welcomed the minister’s comments. He said: “We just want to be able to move on as quickly as possible.”
The rest of the £20m pool is being funded by the city council – which is putting up £10m – and another £5m from the University of Aberdeen.
The pool is set to be ready well before the 2014 Commonwealth Games, when it will be used by some of the world’s top swimmers.
