A £1M revamped scheme for a hydrotherapy pool in Jedburgh is bang on track after a £700k saving was identified.

Plans for the new facility at Laidlaw Memorial Pool and Waterside Fitness Centre in Jedburgh’s Oxnam Road were rubber-stamped by Scottish Borders Council (SBC) in July last year.

But an application for government funding of £1.7m to cover the cost of the project was unsuccessful.

This led to a rethink and a decision to create a separate building to house the hydrotherapy pool, rather than site it within the current complex.

This has resulted in the cost of the scheme falling to £1m, with potential funders in place to ensure it becomes a reality.

Now a revised planning application has been submitted to SBC with the aim to plan work on the new building later in the year.

George Burt, chair of Laidlaw Memorial Pool, said: “We approached the architects to see how we could make the proposal more attractive.

“They told us to think about the possibility of a new building beside the existing building, which would actually work out cheaper.

“The cost now is about one million. The hydro pool itself, the physical pool, is half a million and the remainder is for the new building.

“The new building will incorporate changing rooms, treatment rooms and the equipment that’s needed for heating and keeping the water at the required temperature.

“The building will be located at the back of the existing swimming pool, four or five feet away with a covered corridor back into the main building.

“We’re confident of getting planning approval and we have some potential funders on hold at the moment because it’s always easier to get a grant from a funder if you can say you can start almost right away.

“We’re completely confident of getting the funds we need.”

The pool was constructed by Jedburgh Town Council in 1923 as a small municipal swimming facility.

It was later extended by the then regional council in 1974 to provide a much larger, 25 metre swimming pool to meet the standards of the day.

This facility served the local population well with the addition of new toilets and changing areas, a children’s play area and other alterations added as demand required over the years.

Management of the pool changed in 2003 when following closure by the regional council the management and responsibility for maintaining and running the facility was taken over by Jedburgh Leisure Facilities Trust.