Nelson McCausland, the Northern Ireland sports minister, has given his backing to plans for the construction of the country's first Olympic-sized swimming pool, which is set to be built in Bangor.

North Down Borough Council (NDBC) was selected as the preferred bidder for the scheme by former sports minister Edwin Poots in June 2007, and the pool will form the first phase of Sport Northern Ireland's Elite Facilities Programme. The full business case and a £15m grant for the new 50m pool development, which is expected to get underway in spring 2010, has now been approved by McCausland. The facility will be incorporated into NDBC's plans for the construction of a larger leisure complex in Bangor.

McCausland said: "This represents a £15m investment by the Department for Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL). We have reached this point which will allow the project to move forward towards its construction phase, which is currently on target for completion in 2012 and which will create much needed construction jobs. "This will be Northern Ireland's first Olympic–sized swimming pool. As a regional centre of excellence, it will be a state-of-the-art facility to be enjoyed by all the people of Northern Ireland."

Mayor of North Down, Tony Hill, added: "Site clearance is underway and, with the necessary approvals from DCAL in place, we shall now proceed to tender for the appointment of the main contractor. We anticipate full construction work beginning in spring 2010. "With a two–year build programme, the pool will be available for use as a training base by international teams competing at London 2012. It will, of course, also provide a much needed world–class sporting facility for local swimmers competing in all aquatic sports."