CALLS for a referendum over plans for a new Worcester swimming pool have been rejected - with bosses insisting it would slow the process down by up to six months.

Councillor Richard Boorn, Labour’s finance spokesman, had been calling for the Conservative leadership to hold a city-wide poll to get public opinion.

But Councillor Jabba Riaz, cabinet member for safer and stronger communities, said it would cause unnecessary delays in getting the ambitious project moving.

He said a snap referendum, timed to coincide with May’s local elections at County Hall, is off the table.

“A referendum won’t delay it by two months, you’re looking at around six months and it’s not a good idea,” he said.

“Another thing to remember is the longer we leave things, the longer we delay the useful life of the pool at Sansome Walk.

“Although it’s not collapsing, the building is on its last legs and there are costs with keeping it open.

“We’ve already had a lot of consultation over a new pool, we’ve done our due diligence on it and we need to make progress as quickly as we can.”

The lack of support from the Conservative leadership means the prospect of a referendum is almost certainly dead.

As your Worcester News first revealed last week, an independent report has been published suggesting a county-standard eight lane pool fit for competitions is currently not affordable.

The facility would cost £13.5 million, but there is currently a £5.2 million funding gap.

A second option would be to build a non-county standard pool with six lanes for £10.7 million, of which there is a £192,000 gap.

Both would require loans, of either £7.7m or £10m, paid back over 40 years at a four per cent interest rate.

Once it is built, the facility would Sansome Walk would be demolished and the land sold, with £500,000 added to the funding.

The first debate over it will take place tonight, in a meeting of the performance management and budget scrutiny committee, which starts from 7pm at the Guildhall.