FEARS are growing that delays over the redevelopment of York's Barbican Centre could mean there will not be a new swimming pool on the site.

Tracey Simpson-Laing, the planning spokeswoman for City of York Council's opposition Labour group, claimed the south side of the city could be robbed of a pool altogether, following comments from the authority's Liberal Democrat leader, Steve Galloway.

"Our biggest concern is that, reading between the lines of what Coun Galloway has said, a pool isn't going to be built at all within the time if this goes on," Coun Simpson-Laing told a meeting of the council's planning committee.

"It could be he (Coun Galloway) is waiting for a pool to be built as part of the university plan, but that could be four or five years off, and that means people on the south side of the city would be without a pool for many years."

Her comments followed those made in Thursday's Evening Press by Coun Galloway, when he said delays were being caused by "a small number of objectors who are totally nihilistic in their approach".

He said protesters must now realise the consequence of their actions was likely to be that insufficient money would be available to build a replacement swimming pool on the site.

Coun Simpson-Laing was speaking at a meeting where would-be developers Barbican Venture were seeking to make changes to conditions attached to the original permission granted in September 2004 for the Barbican site.

This gave permission for an auditorium, a conference centre, a 240-appartment housing complex, a hotel and alterations to the existing multi-storey car park.

Protesters have said they fear the changes sought could mean the centre being demolished before other work was done on the site.

Ernie Dickinson, of the Save Our Barbican campaign group, raised residents' concerns that they could be left with a huge building site for months on end once work starts.

Coun Ann Reid, the council's executive member for planning and transport, said Barbican Venture could start demolition work straight away. She said changes to the sequence of work being sought by the developers would make no difference to that.

She said: "Changing how and when things happen will allow some movement on this site, and if we don't do that it could happen that the period between demolition and work getting started could be lengthened."

Councillors voted ten to five in favour of approving the alterations. The decision will now be referred to the Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott.

Updated: 09:43 Saturday, October 29, 2005