MULTI-million pound plans to build a sports complex on the outskirts of York now appear to have been saved.

This is great news for the sporting people of York - and for those who aspire to be a little healthier than they are.

The state-of-the-art club will replace the former club site at Boroughbridge Road, which was closed in April 2003. City of York Council originally threw out plans for the £7 million sports complex at Clifton Moor, but this decision has now been reversed at appeal.

It is the right move for York because the 11-acre complex will provide fully modern sporting facilities for Civil Service employees. Crucially, the new sports centre must allow non-members to use its facilities. This is an important concession because it would hardly be fair if other York people were excluded from such a smashing new centre.

We are all being told to exercise more these days, so the original decision seemed strange. Such a health-promoting development is just what York needs - and now, barring last-minute hitches, the city will soon boast a new sporting complex to replace one that was used by sportsmen and women far and wide.

The appeal ruling found that the council does not have a proper strategy to meet the need for more football and cricket pitches - something the new centre will help to put right.

It was also pointed out that the sporting facilities would occasionally be made available to schools free of charge, which surely has got to be of benefit to the city's young people.

Updated: 10:44 Monday, October 04, 2004