The site will be the third facility being built under the councils Private Funding Initiative (PFI), called New Leaf Leisure Centres Project, and follows similar £30m developments in Armley and Morley.

The Holt Park facility, to be called New Leaf Well Being Centre, will include a 25m swimming pool, an easily accessible learner pool with beach, a sports hall and a Bodyline gym. It will also have meeting, conference and multi-purpose rooms that will host health education workshops and exercise classes.

The wellbeing aspects include a hydrotherapy pool, sensory rooms and a rebound room, which is a soft-sided relaxation space with music. The centre is intended to replace the existing Holt Park Leisure Centre and contribute to the regeneration of Holt Park District Centre.

A spokesperson for the council said: "The plans for Holt Park are in the very early stages, whereas we hope to start construction on the other two facilities this summer.

"All three facilities will be financed through the PFI but the DCMS, which is providing the credits for the other two projects, has said it cannot issue any more and therefore have referred it to the Department of Health for social care PFI credits instead."

FaulknerBrowns are the architects for Morley and Armley and when complete, the new Morley centre will include a 25m swimming pool, a 10m learner pool, a 150-station Bodyline gym, a six-court sports hall, a four-court sports hall, a multi-activity hall and dance studio plus bar/cafe.

The Armley site will boast similar facilities such as the four-court sports hall, dance studio, two pools and the bar/cafe, though it will have the added features of a hydrotherapy pool, a 100-station Bodyline gym and a two-court sports hall.

The new centres will form community sports hubs with links to schools, Primary Care Trusts and Social Services.

The new centres are expected to open in 2012.

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