Dumfries DG One temporary pool plan rejected

The pool at the leisure centre is to close for 17 months from October

Councillors have rejected plans for a temporary swimming pool in an ice rink car park during the closure of the authority's flagship leisure centre.

The Dumfries DG One complex is to shut in October this year for major repairs.

Its pool will be shut for 17 months and it had been hoped a temporary replacement could be erected outside the town's Ice Bowl.

However, a council committee rejected the proposal due to concerns traffic plans could not be managed or enforced.

A short statement from Dumfries and Galloway Council said it was "considering the outcome of the planning application and assessing alternative options".

The plan to put the temporary pool in place was put forward in September last year after it emerged the £17m leisure centre would have to shut for a prolonged period.

It will be closed completely for four months and the pool for a further 13.

The town's Loreburn Hall will be reopened to provide fitness suite services but the council's preferred option for pool facilities has now fallen through.

Earlier this year the authority announced work to install the temporary facility would get under way on 25 August "or as soon as possible after that".

Council leader Ronnie Nicholson described it as an "achievable programme of action and timescale" for the works.

He said it was important to provide "first-class leisure services" while repairs were being carried out at DG One.

He said that a closure date in October would ensure alternative facilities were in place before the centre shut.