Council bids for cash to revamp school pool

A swimming school at a Black Country school could be revamped and opened to the public under a plan to bag Government cash.

Dudley Council announced it is bidding for £380,000 grant to transform the pool at Ellowes Hall Sports College in Gornal, which shut earlier this year due to a faulty boiler. Earlier this year the school also revealed plans for a £1m sports pavilion with cafe and gym.

The pool plan comes less than a month after council leisure bosses controversially closed Coseley baths.

Save Coseley Baths campaign spokesman Brian Guest said: "We would welcome any additional capacity in the borough, it can only be good for the people of Dudley.

"This is the first time Ellowes Hall has been put forward as an alternative venue to Coseley. I don't know why we haven't been told about this plan before."

The stage one bid has been made and will now be assessed by Sport England and the Amateur Swimming Association. If this is successful the council will be invited to progress to stage two and make a more detailed submission in early 2010. If successful, the project would then be delivered during 2011.

Cabinet member for environment and culture, Councillor David Stanley, said: "We are now pursuing the option of building on the developments already in place at Ellowes Hall Sports College. By adding these swimming facilities through our bid for £380,000 from the free swimming capital fund we hope to create a mini-sports village.

"If successful , we are confident the swimming provision at Ellowes would not come under direct competition from the £12m Bilston Urban Village being built two miles from the Coseley Swimming Pool site."

Headteacher at Ellowes Hall, Andy Griffiths, said he welcomed the bid.