COULD Bournemouth's hated Imax building be demolished? That is the tantalising prospect being dangled by the town's new political masters as they call for a radical rethink of plans for the town centre.

Eight leading members of the ruling Conservative group have signed a motion to try and rescind plans for a £20 million arts and education centre with flats and a student hostel on the Winter Gardens site.

At a special meeting today, they will be asking for a review of all options for the Winter Gardens and adjoining sites to provide mixed uses, "ideally" including an all-weather family attraction.

Mover Cllr Stephen MacLoughlin explained: "We're saying what's being proposed for the Winter Gardens site isn't good enough. It's a prime town centre site and so much more could be made of it. In particular, we feel it's the wrong place for student accommodation."

He said a number of ideas had been put forward for all-weather family attractions, including a water park and a mini-Eden Project.

And Mr MacLoughlin suggested some of the art activities planned for the Winter Gardens could be provided elsewhere. "The obvious candidate for that is the Pavilion," he said.

He is keen to talk to the next owners of the Imax complex - whose lease is up for sale - about some sort of land swap, opening up the possibility of the much-reviled waterfront building being remodelled or demolished.

"Part of what we would ideally like is the view coming down Bath Hill being restored. We want Bournemouth to be a family attraction where there are all sorts of facilities on or near the seafront."

But with the plans for the new Winter Gardens already advanced, Mr MacLoughlin admitted: "Some contracts have been signed, but I don't know exactly which. I don't know what level of commitment there is and how much it might cost to get out of it."

Another of the motion's signatories, Cllr Nick King, said: "One of the things that concerns me is that the business case being put forward for the management of the new Winter Gardens site isn't as robust as we would like it to be.

"Before we commit ourselves to something that could be costing the town a lot of money, we need to step back and decide whether this is the best use of the site."

Independent Cllr Ron Whittaker plans to move an amendment on Friday to exclude bars and takeaways from the Winter Gardens site and include family attractions.

But he admits he is worried about the implications of backing out of the existing plan.

"We need to know exactly what the costs are of abandoning this scheme," he said. "What we don't want to do is lose the arts facility - we desperately need something other than the drinking culture Bournemouth has got."