A NEW eight-lane swimming pool able to host national competitions is to be built in Worcester - putting the city on the UK's "swimming map".

After two years of deliberations, Worcester City Council has finally approved a plan to spend £10.4 million on a top-of-the-range pool which will open in 2016.

The decision, which will see the existing Perdiswell Leisure Centre extended and transformed, was voted through by 18 votes to 16 during an angry debate last night which saw Labour, Lib Dem and Green councillors go against it.

During the debate:

- Councillor Simon Geraghty, the city's Tory leader, said "anything less" than an eight lane pool would be "letting the people of Worcester down"

- Labour veteran Councillor Roger Berry called the pool "a white elephant" three times in any angry outburst and said taxpayers could not afford the costs

- The Conservatives cited assets like Pitchcroft, the Worcester Arena and redeveloped cricket ground as proof of a "city of sporting excellence", saying a classy pool is another piece in that jigsaw

- Several opposition councillors said they could not back it because the council has yet to draw up a detailed financial package to pay for it, with some claiming the Tories were worried about it being made public

- Worcester Swimming Club made a passionate appeal for councillors to back the most expensive option, saying it was about the children of the next 40 years

- Some Labour councillors said they would be prepared to back an eight-lane pool as long as it came back to full council at a later date for a definitive vote on the funding, but it was rejected by the Tories, who said a swift decision needed to be made last night due to the crumbling state of Sansome Walk

Councillor David Wilkinson, cabinet member for safer and stronger communities, said: “I believe Worcester is fast becoming a city of sporting excellence – but there is one thing missing, a high-quality swimming pool.

“Let’s give Worcester the swimming pool it deserves.”

Cllr Geraghty said: "We need to settle this matter once and for all in my view, to end that risk of Worcester not having a pool at all, which is now a very real one.

“The strap line we use (on all the council’s marketing literature) is ‘a great city with a great future’ – that’s the level of ambition we have set, that’s what you (Labour) set as well.

"Anything less than eight lanes would be letting the citizens of this city down - let's put the party politics aside and get on with building a great pool for this great city.”

Cllr Berry said: "The real issue here is not whether we have a pool, it's what kind of pool we have.

"Yes, it would be great to produce this white elephant, but what will we do about the ever-increasing hole in local government finances?

"The reality is, if we put all this money into this white elephant, you have to ask what we can afford to carry on - do we close another sports centre? The museum?"

He also said "something is better than nothing", backing calls for a scaled-down, six lane pool instead which could cost £9.2 million and save over £100,000 a year in running costs.

“The Government has us in a vice-like grip with our finances,” he said.

His leader, Councillor Adrian Gregson, called for a vote on a six-lane pool instead, and also wanted it referred back to full council for a final vote once the funds were finalised.

Cllr Geraghty said: “I am truly stunned – what I’ve heard from the members opposite tonight is shocking, to describe an ambitious pool as a ‘white elephant’, I am shocked.

“I’d ask them to reflect on the message they are sending out to the people of Worcester if that’s their level – their ambition is dead.”

Councillor Marc Bayliss, the deputy leader, said: “What we have seen tonight is the real face of Labour in Worcester – ‘we’ve seen their strap line, ‘something is better than nothing’ – perhaps another one will be ‘a great city with a bog standard pool’.

“We’ve been told we cannot have an eight-lane pool but Wolverhampton has one, Rugby has one, Wychavon can have 16 lanes in three pools.”

Councillor Liz Smith, a Lib Dem, said: “To suggest you cannot swim in a six-lane pool, well we’ve been doing it for 40 years, and to suggest (councillors) don’t care about people’s health and well-being because they want a pool the city can actually afford, I think it’s posturing.”

She said “things have changed in the council” and a six-lane “would be a much better option”.

Later in the night, she said she’d like “hanging flowers in the High Street, litter cleared from the A449 and the museum opened on a Monday again”, saying it all comes down to a lack of funds.

Labour Councillor Jo Hodges said: “What do you mean bog standard pool? It will cost £9 million. The report says option B (the six-lane facility) is the most efficient for the council, is it really fair that taxpayers should be burdened with the debt of a competition standard pool for the next 40 years?”

Other Labour politicians backed her up, with Paul Denham saying he’d “love to be able to back an eight-lane pool” but had no details on how it would be paid for, and Simon Cronin “the council might not be broke, but it’s skint”.

“There’s a long shopping list I could come up with, but do we have the money, that’s the question,” he said.

Tory Councillor Stephen Hodgson said: “We don’t want to be sat here in 10 years time saying ‘I wish we’d have built that eight lane pool because the six-lane one is absolutely useless’.

“Because when it comes to competitions, the six lane one is as useful as a chocolate teapot.”

Among a whole raft of other contributions, Labour’s Richard Udall said he could not back it as it wasn’t in St John’s, while Green Neil Laurenson said it could not be justified while spending on “statutory services” is under threat at local authorities around the country.

Several councillors pointed to the officers' report which said the cheaper option would be the most financially efficient for the council, while Labour’s George Squires said he could not understand why it wasn’t being brought back to full council once the full finances were drawn up to pay for it.

Councillor Jabba Riaz, the former Tory cabinet member who drew up the original plans but now belongs to Labour, said the eight lane pool "wasn't affordable then and isn't affordable now".

Tory Andy Roberts said Worcester’s young people should not “be disadvantaged”, insisting children in areas like Warndon Villages should be able to get to the Olympics in 2020 or 2024 by competing in the city.

Labour called for a vote on backing a six-lane pool, and also wanted it to referred back to full council once the financial package has been finalised.

But after it was defeated, the Conservatives teamed up with Mayor of Worcester Councillor Alan Amos to back the eight-lane option.

A plan will be drawn up to fund the project including money from selling the Sansome Walk pool site, which will be demolished and handed to developers for an estimated £500,000 once the new-look Perdiswell pool is open.

There will also be a loan taken out, a possible Sport England grant of up to £2 million, and some cash from the £3.1 million for selling the Orchard House complex to the University of Worcester.

The final funding package will be decided upon by the Conservative cabinet in the coming months, with the vote last night meaning it does not have to go back to full council.

It will feature an eight lane, 25 metre pool, an 18m by 10m learner pool, a 'fun pool' for toddlers, 250 seats for spectators, a revamped gym with 120 pieces of equipment, studio space, a cafe and vending machines, and an upgraded sports hall.

It means the current Perdiswell Leisure Centre, which will have a huge new wing added to it, will get a comprehensive overhaul, appearing almost unrecogniseable by the middle of 2016.

As well as the estimated £10.45 million cost to build, the yearly capital costs are set at £581,000, and a subsidy of around £493,000 will be required per annum.

The six-lane option would have resulted in a yearly subsidy of £375,000, a £9.2 million bill to construct and a yearly capital cost of £513,000.

All of the figures are rough estimates which could change.

The report on it said while the cheaper pool would be most efficient financially for taxpayers and provide "the best financial return" on lower costs, the eight-lane pool will put Worcester on the swimming map as a regional swimming destination.

As your Worcester News has reported at length over the last two years, previous options included £13.5 million on an eight-lane 'new build' or £10.7 million on a 'new build' six lane facility.

The new options were cheaper because they do not involve demolishing the current Perdiswell Leisure Centre, but instead extending and revamping it.