EXETER Swimming Club’s 50m pool hopes hang in the balance after planning permission was granted for a smaller pool at a city centre site.

The Princesshay project has been recommended for approval. This comes as a bitter blow for the city and its swimmers, with Exeter Swimming Club campaigning hard for a 50m pool outside the city centre vicinity.

The proposed leisure complex will contain two separate pools measuring 25m and 20m. The larger pool, of short course competition length will have 100 seats for spectators, a significant downgrade on the 400 seats the Pyramid’s leisure centre holds.

Exeter City Swimming club press officer, Mr Louis Joyce, was critical of the plans: “The average 25m pool costs no more than £10m and the plans that the council have put forward aren’t cost efficient in the slightest.

“The council will be wasting an extra £16m if they go ahead with these plans. The Pyramids site is already congested and sits upon one of the main roads going into the city. By building the new pool on top of the bus station this will disrupt transport massively.”

National Express are one of the main objectors, along with Exeter Swimming Club, as the proposed site for the new pool is on top of their main station stop in the city.

Mr Joyce added: “The Arena site we are proposing is owned by the council so they wouldn’t need to buy the land and the location makes it cheaper to develop on. There would be room for a larger car park which the Pyramids site as well as space for a larger spectator area.”

The club is under pressure with the current pool facilities it has available and there is a belief the proposed plans will not help alleviate its current problems.

“We swim across seven different pools, including the Life Centre in Plymouth which is over one hour away, just to make sure we have enough pool time for our swimmers. Building a 50m pool would go some way to helping us and other clubs. Poole Swimming Club have been in touch to say they would hire out the 50m pool if one were built.”

Plans are due to be discussed by the council on 20th January.

To find out more about the 50m pool campaign, follow @exeterswimming on Twitter or visit their website.