THE ice rink at the Link Centre will be closed for 11 weeks from Sunday evening for work to replace the ageing plant and ice pad.

Cabinet made a decision in December to proceed with the project, which is estimated to cost £768,000, plus a further £60,000 in lost income relating to the ice rink and catering.

This comes after a feasibility study by contractor, Capita Symonds, which found that if the work was not undertaken, there was significant risk the rink could become unusable at short notice and there would also be health and safety risks, mainly the risk of refrigerant leakage.

Coun Keith Williams, the cabinet member for highways, strategic transport and leisure, said work was needed as the plant was becoming old, with the edge of the ice melting slightly on warm days.

The work was originally planned to take place last summer but was postponed due to major repairs to the pool and to the roof.

The closure takes place after a foam party on Sunday and runs until August 19. The nearest rinks are Oxford, and Milton Keynes, Bracknell and Cardiff.

Swindon is a major centre for ice skaters in the south west after Bristol ice rink was closed last year before a planned redevelopment into student flats.

But Coun Williams said the work was timed in summer to minimise disruption.

He said: “There’s alternative provision if you go along the M4 corridor towards London. “This is coinciding with people’s summer holidays, when the skating levels drop off.

“We are in this position where we’re one of only very few skating rinks in the whole of the west and we’re in an unenviable position where people do look to us as their primary venue for skating. “But this is not a shock. It’s been communicated over many, many months to skating groups. They realise it’s essential work.”

To pay for the work, £470,000 will come from unused cash in the existing capital programme, £32,000 will come from developer’s contributions towards leisure and the balance of £266,000 will be borrowed over six years, with annual debt charges of £49,000.

Swindon Council is investigating alternative ways to manage its leisure and cultural facilities to help reduce the current £3.6m annual subsidy, including the possibility of handing over leisure centres to private operators.

It says the work must take place this year as there is an increased risk of an unplanned costly shutdown if left until 2014, but others have questioned the timing.

Stuart Coffey, the chairman of the Swindon Sports Forum, a group seeking to develop sports across Swindon, said: “I think there’s more to it than this. “I think that they realise they’ve got some infrastructure problems with the Link and therefore they’re trying to get the big stuff done and justify it as such, so that they can then go to industry and say the Link is available and by the way all the infrastructure is up to date.

“It would be a significant discouragement if there was a significant capital expenditure required in the first 12 months of someone taking over the centre, that would affect revenue as well.”

Coun Williams refuted the claim. He said the project was in fact deferred from last year due to the work on the pool, and said an assessment last year recommended work on the rink as soon as practically possible.