RESIDENTS in York are being asked to have their say on proposals for a revamp of swimming facilities in the west of the city.

A public consultation has been launched into how City of York Council chiefs should spend £4 million raised from the sale of the Barbican Centre, which will have no public pool when it is redeveloped.

They will be asked whether they want the cash to be used to refurbish Edmund Wilson Pool or to build a replacement pool alongside the new sports centre at Oaklands.

More than 37,000 homes in the west of the city will be sent questionaires.

The Oaklands scheme would provide a new five-lane 25 metre swimming pool and learner pool, a new gym that would be double the size of the gym at Edmund Wilson and a crche.

It would cost £5 million, but council chiefs say the extra £1 million would be funded by efficiency savings due to having all the facilities on one site. It would also include more eco-friendly facilities.

Plans to refurbish the existing pool at Edmund Wilson include a new entrance lobby with lift, revamped changing rooms, repairs to the pool and the gym returned to the first floor.

The Edmund Wilson plan would mean the pool would be closed for nearly a year during refurbishment, leaving only Yearlsey Pool and Waterworld open to the public. Both options would be subject to planning permisison once detailed designs had been drawn up.

The surveys will be sent to homes in the rural west, Holgate, Acomb, Dringhouses and Woodthorpe, and Westfield wards. Residents from across the city can also submit their views online at www.york.gov.uk Two public meetings will be held to discuss the plans at Oaklands on November 28 at 12.30pm and 7pm. More information is on display at Edmund Wilson Pool and Oaklands. The deadline for responses is December 5 .

Appeal hearing

CAMPAIGNERS against the controversial redevelopment of York's Barbican Centre are taking their case to the Court of Appeal tomorrow.

Only last month, the Save Our Barbican campaign (SOB) appeared to have lost the final round of its legal battle, but SOB revealed today that it was now going back to the court for a full oral hearing.