THE PLANNED removal of a toddler pool at a leisure centre has sparked the anger of parents.

Proposals to demolish the Carnival Pool site and rebuild surfaced earlier this year.

While a gym will be added to the development, the proposals remove the toddler pool and build one with a moveable floor, which can adjust the depth, in its place.

A petition set up to keep the pool argues the replacement is not adequate.

Alexander Fraser, parent and campaign leader, said: "My 16 month old son and 12 year old nephew have a lot of fun playing together under the water jets and my son loves the slide.

"I know through using the beach pool he has developed water confidence and he clearly enjoys himself. I always see people with their children in there.

"We live in a borough with 10,000 under fives and to not have a beach pool in the new plans is effectively excluding and ignoring the needs of a large portion of our community from benefitting from the new facility."

So far 583 people have signed their agreement, with many writing messages of consent.

One wrote: "As a teacher at Carnival Pool, I find the beach pool essential for encouraging young children to swim. They feel safe in the shallow water and this enables them to test their skills swimming on front and back knowing they can stand up with ease if need be.

"Losing this pool would be a tragedy for the are. We already have so little to offer our little ones."

Councillor Stuart Munro, executive member for business and economic development and regeneration, addressed the concerns but reiterated Wokingham Borough Council's proposals to remove the pool.

"Whilst there is no longer a separate splash area in the plans, there would still be lots of opportunity for toddlers and young children to enjoy the pool," he said.

"We're proposing to use the space to create a larger teaching pool with a moveable floor which could be made shallow enough for much bigger toddler sessions or made deep enough to teach different ages to swim.

"The moveable floor also means it could be used to run classes such as Aquafit whilst leaving the main pool free for open swimming."