It is not so much a sports centre, more a university of fitness. Just reading out the facilities is enough to leave the more sedentary among us breathless: 13 tennis courts, two half Olympic length swimming pools, a gymnasium, fitness centre, aerobic studio, three squash courts... The list goes on.

This development is said to be "state-of-the-art" and for once this description is justified. If these plans become reality York will be able to boast that it possesses some of the best sporting facilities in the country.

We know that there is great demand for a tennis and fitness centre. Last year David Lloyd's Next Generation Clubs (NGC) company proposed a very similar complex for Monks Cross. City of York Council refused it planning permission, a decision that provoked a furore. More than 3,000 people signed an Evening Press Everyone For Tennis petition demanding a rethink.

Since then NGC, the College of Ripon & York St John and the council have been conducting some serious negotiations. The outcome seems to please all parties. Council planners are happy with the Hull Road location; the college is delighted by the opportunity to build on its reputation for excellence in sport science education; and NGC's vision for a York sports complex is closer to realisation.

Not every sports enthusiast will be able to take full advantage of the multi-million pound facilities. The price of membership is likely to be too high for many: the developers have to make the business pay.

That is why it would be wrong for the council to see the news pools as a solution to its difficulties in deciding what do do with our public pools. NGC is offering 500 hours of free use to the community, but this would not come close to replacing the time available to swim at the Barbican and Yearsley. The two issues must be kept separate during the council's leisure review.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.