A TIMESCALE for the construction of Horwich Leisure Centre has been unveiled.

Contractors moved on to the land, in Victoria Road, on Monday and trees have been removed.

Workers have been making the site safe and secure and their next job is to demolish the multi-storey car park.

At a meeting of Horwich Town Council on Thursday night, John Gorton, partnership development manager for Bolton Community Leisure Trust, said: "That (demolition) should be complete by the end of August."

The plan is to then level the land in August and September, ready for the foundations to be laid at the beginning of October.

Steel frames will go up by the end of October and, by Christmas, the shape of the building will be in place.

Mr Gorton said: "Early in the new year, we will start to put the roof on and make the building watertight, which should be complete by the end of March.

"Then there is a significant amount of internal fitting out to take place, which is going to last from the beginning of April until the end of August, 2017."

Contractors will then spend six weeks landscaping the land and trees will be planted in line with permission granted by Bolton planning committee.

It means work could be complete by October, 2017.

A temporary car park is in operation and the multi-storey car park is set to close next week.

Tests will be carried out to ensure dust is controlled when the car park is demolished, said Mr Gorton.

He added that some Brooklands residents had requested a footpath leading from their street to the centre be shut and that was being considered, whereas the Church Street will be upgraded.

A newsletter detailing the project has been sent to leisure centre neighbours and more editions will follow in the coming months, said Mr Gorton.

Once the new leisure centre is complete, the old one will be demolished and replaced with a £6.8 million health super centre.

Mr Gorton said he hoped Dr Anne Talbot, who is one of the GPs behind the project, would join him at a future town council meeting to update residents.

"As time goes on, the doctors will have an idea of what kind of facilities are going into the health centre and will be able to report back," said Mr Gorton.

He added that project bosses had worked with Bolton Council, Horwich Town Council and Horwich Carnival to ensure the work progresses with minimal disruption.