A NEW £7 million "flagship" leisure centre could soon be built in Horwich.

Council chiefs have agreed to press ahead with the plans to demolish the existing leisure centre in Victoria Road build a new facility on the site of the multi-story car park next to it.

The council has already agreed to spend £4 million of its annual budget on the project and is hoping to convince Sport England to offer up an additional £2 million.

The final £1 million could be partly funded by an “alternative development” on part of the land, which would be freed up under the new plans.

Bolton Community Leisure Trust and its managing agent, Serco, are responsible for managing the leisure centre and six other facilities across the borough, while the council is responsible for the structure of the centre, the car park and access roads.

The council currently subsidises the day-to-day running of the centre, but the trust said a new, more efficient centre would not require the extra council cash.

The trust has invested more than £2.5 million into five of its other sites over the past two years and now intends to create the new flagship facility in Horwich.

A spokesman for the trust said: “There is still a long way to go but we now have an opportunity to make sure that Horwich Leisure Centre is up to the standard of the rest of the facilities.

“The centre is now 40 years old and is outdated — something clearly needs to be done with it.”

The plan is to keep the current centre open while the new building is created next to it in a bid to ensure that customers do not lose out.

The spokesman added: “The intention is that relocating the centre means that there will be no break in services for people.”

The new facility will include updated versions of the facilities in the current centre, including a six-lane, 25 metre pool, a teaching pool, a sports hall with four courts, a 100-station fitness suite, two studio spaces and additional facilities for youth services and health.

The trust had considered refurbishing the current site as well as demolishing and rebuilding the car park, but this option was discounted because it would not enable the removal of the annual subsidy, could have an adverse impact on the council’s VAT position and would mean the centre would have to close for a minimum of six months, with a predicted loss of at least £500,000.

The gym at the leisure centre was recently revamped to the tune of £170,000, but the trust insisted that this was done in the knowledge of the potential new facility and said most of the money was spent on new machines which will be moved to the new site.

Plans for a new car park will be created with its size being determined in relation to how big the new leisure centre will be.

Bolton Council’s cabinet members met and voted to support the proposal and gave the final word to the authority’s director of development and regeneration, Keith Davies, who will submit a funding application to Sport England.

The plans were welcomed by cabinet member and Horwich councillor Ann Cunliffe, who said: “I think residents in Horwich and across Bolton will be very pleased with the news.

“It is a well used facility but the building is tired and we do need a new build, so I really welcome it.”

The news has also gone down well with regular users of the current gym.

Horwich resident Kat Dibbits said: “The leisure centre is a good facility but obviously it doesn’t compete with some of the private ones around.

“It would be great to see the council provide a place that gives people access to better quality facilities.”

Another Horwich resident, Greg Smith, often takes his 17-month-old son to the leisure centre.

He said: “I think half of Bolton learned to swim at Horwich Leisure Centre and I regularly take my son there, so it's great news for the community that we will get a new centre.

“The current place does need a bit of a revamp but I am pleased that they will keep it open in the meantime — this is good news for Horwich.”