Plans for a new leisure centre for Waddon are back on track.

Croydon Council has confirmed work will begin on the much-delayed complex next spring. The council hopes the centre will be ready in 2011.

Proposals for the centre, which will include a six-lane swimming pool, two dance studios, a sports hall and a gym, were first made four years ago and were later expanded to include two blocks of flats. But the project stalled last summer when the council's housing partner pulled out.

The council has now agreed to make the centre part of its new regeneration scheme, the Urban Regeneration Vehicle (URV). The URV is a partnership with the private sector that will see Croydon and developers John Laing share profits from developments on the Council's land.

The move means construction of the leisure centre can now begin as soon as planning permission is received and the land, which is currently occupied, becomes available.

Two schools currently use the seven-acre Purley Way site on which the centre will be built. Both will have to move to make way for the scheme. Red Gates Special School is expected to move into new premises by September this year. The Waddon Infant and Nursery School will move in 2010.

Councillor Steve O'Connell, the cabinet member for regeneration and economic development, said he was "delighted" that progress had been made on the Waddon scheme. He said he hoped for "an early, visible start to the construction" and promised Waddon residents "some first class leisure provision".

The development will also include community facilities and a "children's services hub" catering to primary-age children with special needs.

Pete Allen, Project Director of Together in Waddon, a group that provides community services including after-school clubs and benefits surgeries, said the news was "fantastic".

He said: "It's been a long time coming. One of the things that has been missing from Waddon is community facilities and anything that provides places for people to meet is to be welcomed."

The Waddon regeneration scheme has been plagued by problems since the housing market collapsed last year. As well as the leisure centre, the project was supposed to include both affordable housing and private homes.

A spokesman for the council said the affordable housing portion of the scheme would still be built and some affordable homes were already "in the early development phases". He confirmed that private homes would not be built for now but said the intention was to build them "as the market strengthens".

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