Cut-down leisure centre proposal 'a big puddle in a car park with a roof over it' says South Ayrshire Council leader

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A new pared-down Ayr leisure centre proposal was dismissed as ‘a big puddle in a car park with a roof over it’ by South Ayrshire Council Leader Martin Dowey on Thursday.The council was split on whether to accept the revised proposal which would cut the size of the centre by 20 per cent and reduce the pool, scrap the flumes and remove a play zone amongst others.The decision on the matter came down to the casting vote of Provost Iain Campbell after the vote ended in a tie.It was also revealed that the debate over whether the scrapped Ayr Leisure Centre would be too expensive had never taken into account the possibility of £20m in levelling up funds.But councillors fighting the decision found out that their arguments on that aspect were too late.The council met on Thursday, tasked with deciding whether a revised plan for a leisure centre that would meet the agreed £45m budget was suitable.The council had previously agreed to scrap the agreed centre proposals on the basis that it was unaffordable at £51m and rising.However, no formal moves were made to determine whether the potential levelling up windfall was being taken into account.Had it been, the argument was there to be made that the £20m levelling up grant would reduce the burden on the council’s coffers from £51m to £31m and would remain within the original budget.Instead, the point was only raised on Thursday, where it was dismissed as a moot point given the affordability was no longer the question.Labour Councillor Philip Saxton argued that there should be a delay until the outcome of the levelling up bid was known as it would reduce the costs.However, the administration countered this line by insisting that the matter no longer related to the affordability, which