EXCITEMENT is mounting in Malmesbury as work on the new £2,359,670 indoor swimming pool adjoining the Activity Zone in Bremilham Road, reaches an advanced stage.

Since last September when the start of work was delayed for three weeks because of a national shortage of steel, the building was going well.

Then rain last month once again slowed progress.

The fine weather in the last few weeks however, has helped contractors.

North Wiltshire District Council said work is back on schedule for an opening date before Christmas.

The council's countryside and community facility team leader Gwyn De-Arth said: "The work is still on schedule.

"We were ahead a few weeks ago but now we are back on track for a November or December opening."

A six-and-a-half metre wooden frame has already been built over the pool.

Mr De-Arth said: "The wooden roof will be very aesthetically pleasing for people using the pool as opposed to concrete or steel which can deteriorate quite quickly.

"We went around a lot of swimming pools and everyone thought the ones with wooden roofs looked best."

The next phase will be to start construction around the wooden frame with roof tiles, brickwork, laying the floors and internal blocks.

The pool itself will be linked to the activity zone with a joint reception.

The present entrance to the building from Bremilham Road will be closed, but the road access will remain the same.

The activity zone car park will also be moved to another part of the site to cope with extra numbers that are expected to use the site. The pool, which will have four lanes and be 25m long by 8.5m wide, has been excavated.

It will feature a special movable floor so it can be used by toddlers.

Mr De-Arth said: "We were thinking about having a separate teaching pool which is normally raised so coaches can talk to swimmers but there wasn't room for that and it would have cost more.

"The movable floor gives us flexibility. There will also be a viewing area for people to watch activity in the pool," he said.

The swimming pool complex was given the go-ahead after receiving a £1.2 million Lottery grant last August.

North Wiltshire District Council contributed £865,000, £15,000 came from the town council, and £300,000 from an anonymous benefactor.

The new facility will replace the open-air pool on Park Road, where attendances have dropped significantly in the last few seasons.

The coming season will be the last for the open air pool and a meeting to discuss the site's future was delayed while public consultation is carried out on the adjacent Newton Grove play park.

District councillor Lesley Bennett has been involved in plans for the swimming pool ever since the idea was first mooted, said: "We can really now see it take shape and be excited at the prospect of the new facility."

Headteacher at Malmesbury St Joseph's Roman Catholic School, Kim Parnell, said: "I think it will be marvellous.

"I take children to Cirencester every week, but it is a very long journey and very expensive.

"It would very nice to have local pool and hopefully we will be able to use that every week."

Ann Napper, head of PE at Malmesbury School, said: "It's going to be fantastic. Absolutely brilliant.

"It's good to have facilities all on one site and hopefully we'll be able to have some time during the week to use it and there'll be activities after 4pm that will encourage children to go down there."

She also said that she hoped the new pool would encourage more children from the area to learn how to swim.

cramos@newswilts.co.uk