Council urged to get advice on building aquatic centre

North Shore City Councillor Callum Blair will ask tomorrow for the council to get legal advice on whether it is bound to build an aquatic centre at North Harbour Stadium.

In November - after a decade of debate - the city council voted for the $14 million modern community pool complex to go to the stadium instead of Massey University's Albany campus.

In its new city plan, the council has provided for the project to start in 2013-14.

Mr Blair accepts that this timing is up to the new Auckland Council.

But he said he believed North Shore City Council followed a flawed process in reaching its November decision, which might be rubber-stamped by its successors.

"I intend to move that the council seek legal advice as to whether the decision can be overturned and other site location options considered," he said yesterday. The other parties involved were the Millennium Centre and Massey, which offered to build 50m pools for $10 million, instead of a 25m pool at the stadium for $14 million.

"With the Commonwealth Games coming up, we will need a 50m pool,"said Mr Blair.