A ROW has broken out over the delayed replacement of Ellesmere Port’s EPIC leisure centre.

Justin Madders, leader of the Labour group on Cheshire West and Chester Council (CWaC), said the council could have capitalised on Olympic fever and inspired a generation of youngsters to try new sports.

But instead Cheshire West and Chester Council said last week that the replacement, on the site of the old Stanney High School, would not be built until 2015 at the earliest, after a second consultation at the end of this year.

Cllr Madders said: “Nearly another year has passed and we still seem to be no further forward.

“The Stanney school site was identified as the preferred location for the new leisure centre nearly a year ago and the council appear to have done nothing in that time.

“The Tories on Cheshire West have had three and a half years since the money, the preferred options and the clear will of the people of Ellesmere Port were handed over to them and yet we are still looking at another three years before the site is open.

“I see no reason why all this consultation could not have taken place much earlier; the school will be vacated in a couple of months and construction work could have started as soon as the last pupils left.”

Cheshire West and Chester Council leader Mike Jones has slammed Cllr Madders for making ‘silly and incorrect remarks about the council’s progress.’

He said: “It is also noted that the Labour-run Ellesmere Port Council did so little to replace the EPIC, leaving the project in a limbo state when inherited by the new council. In developing the new sports centre, it is very important to involve local sporting organisations and the public in the design of new centre to set out what is or is not included, ensuring it is financial sustainable for the future.”

Cllr Louise Gittins, Labour’s culture spokesman, said: “We were told that this would be a priority for the council but it seems that this is just the latest in a long list of broken promises.”

Ellesmere Port and Neston MP Andrew Miller said: "The council should be bold and keep pressing for high-quality standards, including a 50-metre pool.

“Our young people are entitled to their share of the Olympic legacy and CWaC should join me in pressing the case. I would be happy to put aside political differences in exchange for an ambitious plan that we can all agree on.”

Cllr Jones added: “The need for a 50-metre pool will be determined as part of this process and in the wider context of where such a pool is constructed, if required in the borough, as part of the council’s £69m investment in sports facilities throughout the borough.

“This programme of investment will build on the tremendous success of our athletes during the Olympics.”