By Brian Allison, local government reporter

A DUNDEE CITY councillor has raised concerns about funding for the planned £22 million replacement for the Olympia Leisure Centre, following delays in a similar project in Aberdeen.

Labour opposition councillor Mohammed Asif said he would be seeking assurances from the council about the financial arrangements for the project, especially the £3 million which is being sought from sportscotland.

However, the council’s depute chief executive (finance) David Dorward said he was not aware of any problems with the funding bid, which was progressing as anticipated.

Mr Dorward said there could be no absolute guarantee that the bid would be successful but he had no reason to think otherwise at this stage.

Councillor Bob Duncan, leisure and communities committee convener, said he was confident the money to build the new centre would be secured.

The council is planning to spend a total of £30 million on a project to replace the ageing Olympia with a new centre, incorporating an Olympic-sized 50m swimming pool, and a linked multi-storey car park for 500 vehicles.

A planning application for the project on a section of the existing East Whale Lane (Allan Street) surface-level car park was approved by the development quality committee last week.

Funding for the new centre— excluding the car park—is expected to comprise £11 million of prudential borrowing by the council, £4 million of capital receipts from the sale of other land and property, £3 million in grants from sportscotland, and £4 million from the council’s capital plan.

Sportscotland is the national agency for sport and a non- departmental body responsible through Scottish Government ministers to the Scottish Parliament.

The new centre would be owned by the council and managed by Dundee Leisure, which already looks after former local authority leisure facilities in the city.

Mr Asif said he was delighted the plans for the new centre had received the unanimous approval of the committee.

“I think it is really impressive and it will be an opportunity for Dundee to maintain its position as a major centre for swimming in Scotland,” he said.

“Clearly it is very important that the project becomes more than just plans…and this is why I have written to the director of leisure and communities asking for an update on funding for the proposal.

“I am particularly concerned about funding from sportscotland and I will be looking for the director to give me a clear idea of when the project will be able to progress and when the funding will be available.”

Mr Asif said he had noted recent reports about a similar project in Aberdeen which had apparently been supported by the Scottish Government more than a year ago but had not progressed and there was some dubiety about the funding.

Mr Dorward said a stage one bid to sportscotland had been accepted and a stage two bid was just submitted by the council.

“It could take a few months before we know the outcome of the bid and, while I can’t guarantee it will be successful, there has been nothing in the many meetings officers have had with sportscotland to suggest that there are any problems,” he said.

Mr Duncan said the design team had been working hard to achieve the right balance of facilities to be included in the centre.

“Sportscotland are keen that it should be a centre of excellence for swimming and include elements like the 50-metre pool,” he said.

“It is also important that it should be a centre which will appeal to local people—families and children—so we need to have facilities which will be entertaining and fun for them to use.”