A SWIMMING pool should be built on York’s mothballed Hungate site, local politicians have said.

Labour councillors say the land originally earmarked for York’s new civic headquarters should instead be used for a pool, to plug the gap left by the closure of the Barbican.

Coun Sonja Crisp, the party’s leisure spokeswoman, said: “It would be easily accessible by public transport or on foot for many residents who live in the city centre and the east of the city, unlike the pool at York High School or the University of York, when it is built.”

She said: “This artist’s impression was simply to signal that it is indeed possible to design and build a community pool on the Hungate site, a site which is of the necessary size and is a suitable location for a city centre pool.”

The design was drafted by party colleague and architect Roger Pierce, but Coun Crisp said any design would be subject to public consultation.

She said: “A motion was agreed by council in July that directed the executive to outline a strategy to deliver a pool in the city centre, if the 2011 university pool deadline could not be met. It is now widely acknowledged that deadline cannot be met. The executive needs to act now to consider what can be done to progress a replacement for the Barbican.” At a meeting last month, a cross-party committee of councillors said the executive should reconsider its strategy for delivering extra swimming provision in York.

Labour group leader Coun David Scott said: “We agreed at the meeting that not only should the executive reconsider its open-ended commitment with £2 million of taxpayers’ money to a university pool, but that it should be thinking now about how it can begin the process of delivering a city centre swimming pool.” But the council’s ruling Liberal Democrats rubbished Labour’s plans, with leisure boss Nigel Ayre accusing his rivals of “muddled thinking”.

He said: “The artist’s impression shows the pool extending well beyond the council-owned land into land which already has planning permission for homes and commercial developments.

“This would involve purchasing land on one of the most expensive pieces of real estate in the city centre, which would further add to the cost of developing a pool and is currently not even available.”

He said acquiring the land there could cost £10 million, and the Liberal Democrats had a coherent swimming strategy.

The land at Hungate was earmarked for City of York Council’s new headquarters, until those plans collapsed.