WEYMOUTH Swimming Pool could get a vital facelift under joint proposals between the council and leisure management company SLM.

If the two do team up then SLM development director Andy Haworth said they would put in about £500,000 with £330,000 coming from the council.

Nearly 50 councillors, authority staff, pool staff and members of the public heard details of the partnership proposals when they attended an SLM presentation yesterday in Weymouth Pavilion Ocean.

Mr Haworth said: "We are basically looking to uplift the facility generally.

"We hope to build outwards from the southern side of the building facing the car park to create a new fitness centre of up to 2,500sq ft.

"We also hope to refurbish the changing rooms and to convert the current gym into a dance and exercise studio and a multi-use area capable of taking anything from exercise groups to children's parties."

He added that SLM also wants to refurbish the reception area including providing a new front desk area while the company would also contribute up to £10,000 per year on IT improvements.

He said he hoped SLM would provide the council with significant revenue and savings through the partnership with the council retaining ownership of the building and SLM operating the service.

If the partnership is approved and goes ahead then all work could be completed and the new-look pool opened by January 1, 2006.

Weymouth and Portland council partnerships manager Alex Parmley said they initially considered two proposals from outside providers, one of which was SLM, as well as a council internal business plan.

He added: "Our main motivation with Weymouth Swimming Pool is to get investment in to improve the facility and to look at the advantages of getting someone else with leisure expertise to run it and make the best possible use of the facility, if possible saving the council costs.

"SLM is our preferred partner and we will now make a decision in March on whether to accept its bid or proceed with our internal business plan."

Community, Regeneration and Culture committee chairman Coun David Harris said: "This provides us with a really good opportunity to ensure the long-term future of the pool with improved facilities for all residents."

Vice-chairman Coun Joy Stanley added that councillors, swimming club members and staff would be going to the Malvern Hills and Stratford-upon-Avon on February 15 to see completed SLM pool sites and talk to pool staff there.

Weymouth Swimming Pool duty manager Helen Rodgers said: "We just hope that the council, unions and any company involved in the partnership does their best for the local community.

"The pool needs cash spent on it and any investment can only be good news."

Earlier in the day a meeting of the council's management committee was told that the pool was one of the key expenditure elements in the council's capital programme for 2005-2006.

Members heard that the site needs £503,500 spent on it but only £17,500 for tiling and a sewer drain is stressed as essential for the capital programme to avoid services being scrapped.

Another £296,000 is included as essential but for work which, if not carried out, would not halt any council services. This work includes filters and pipes, lighting, boiler and control panel work, plant, radiators and pipework.

The remaining £190,000 for a swimming pool creche, a new fitness suite and refurbishment of the customer area was seen as 'good sense' but not essential and was left out of the capital programme.