Holding a public discussion on where to build Monmouth's new comprehensive school would have been 'dishonest' according to the county council's deputy leader. The town's swimming pool will be knocked down to make way for the new school following a cabinet decision last month. But Councillor Bob Greenland told the Beacon it was the only suitable option. "In the early stages, we were told there was no reason why we couldn't build on the 'flood plain' part of the site," he said. "At the end of May the designers came up with the three options. There was only one reasonable option to choose and that's why there was no consultation beforehand. "Staff worked through the plans before it was made public. There was no time to give any advanced warnings about the pool, the first time I heard about it myself was in June." Cllr Greenland said he had been in further talks with the Haberdashers schools about members of the public using their pools. He also said certain groups including those referred for free swimming sessions by their GP would be given priority but admitted some swimmers would miss out. It is anticipated the pool will cost around £4 million to £5 million to build and is expected to be taken from a variety of sources including grants and soft loans but councillors may have to draw on capital reserves. Cllr Greenland said the new pool would be a 25-metre facility likely to be built on the current leisure centre car park and would be raised to prevent flooding. He also defended the £400,000 spent on repairing the pool a few years ago. "Without that investment, the pool would have been closed by now for safety reasons." A motion submitted to full council last Thursday (31st July) by Councillor Penny Jones calling for Monmouthshire County Council to minimise the period of disruption until the new pool is built was dubbed "weak" and "wishy-washy" by several members. The motion sparked a debate among councillors who were unhappy with the lack of information as to when the pool would actually be re-built. Labour leader Dimitri Batrouni said: "This is a rather vague commitment and doesn't answer the questions about when you will be building the pool. "There should be no wishy-washy statements, the public deserve a firm commitment as to when this pool will be built. "I am disappointed and can't understand why they won't commit. We need to make sure that Monmouth residents get their pool." MCC was also accused of not engaging with the public properly about the siting for the new school. Councillor Frances Taylor said: "I find it very disappointing that we place so much importance on public engagement in this council but I don't see any evidence of engagement with users of the swimming pool. "The Monmouth swimmers group don't feel they've been engaged with." Cllr Bob Greenland said he has set officers the challenge of re-building the pool within 12 months of the current pool being demolished. A public meeting is to be held tomorrow (7th August) from 5.30pm to 7pm in the old gym situated directly behind Monmouth leisure centre. A group of Monmouth residents and user groups will attend the county council's information session this Thursday evening in the hope of convincing Monmouthhsire County Council (MCC) to re-think the proposals for the closure of the swimming pool in Monmouth. Spokesman for the group Brian Ramsey said: "We are asking people to come along and insist that MCC do not submit plans until they include a new pool. "We acknowledge their 'pledge' to provide a new pool, but in the current climate of austerity we feel that the people of Monmouth deserve something more substantial." They plan to meet outside the Leisure Centre at 6pm tomorrow (7th August).