New Shrewsbury swimming pools plan put on hold again as 'building costs double'
Two new swimming pools planned in Shrewsbury are being put on hold due to huge rises in construction costs - but a new £12 million swimming pool will be built in the north of the county.
Shropshire Council's leader Councillor Lezley Picton has confirmed the authority plans to build a new swimming pool for Whitchurch, on the site of the current pool, which has been closed since March 2020.
The council's cabinet will be asked next Wednesday to approve a consultation on the proposal.
But, Councillor Picton said long-running ambitions to build two new pools in Shrewsbury - one at Sundorne Sports Village as well as a new swimming facility to replace the one currently based at The Quarry - have been put on hold.
The new Whitchurch facility - which will include gym, studio space for classes, and a cafe - will cost around £12m, up from £8m envisaged when the council first began the project.
The new pool for the site will have a moveable floor and will be 25 metres long and six lanes wide – two lanes wider than the current pool.
Councillor Picton said the costs for the Shrewsbury projects had forced a rethink over whether to press ahead, with the Sundorne scheme having risen from £10m to £20m, and the Quarry plan up from £28m to £48m.
She said it would not be prudent for the council to commit the level of money required to the projects, and that they had made the decision to prioritise the Whitchurch plan with the area currently without any swimming facilities.
If the plan is approved by the council's cabinet next week then it will go to full council for approval, with an eight week consultation to follow.
It is hoped that the pool could be open by 2025 – although the town will be without a pool until the project is complete.
Councillor Picton said she was delighted that they would be solving the problems with the Whitchurch site, but admitted she was disappointed about the latest delay to plans for an overhaul of Shrewsbury's swimming facilities.
She said: "We are very much looking forward to getting the centre open and it is obviously extremely good news for Whitchurch. The capital costs will be somewhere in the region of £12m. The original figure we were looking at was around £8m so there has been a significant increase in construction costs.
"We are looking to early 2025 to get it open. If we can do it quicker we will."
Cecilia Motley, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for communities, place, tourism and transport, said: “A key priority for Shropshire Council is to improve health and wellbeing at all stages of life, and increasing participation in physical activity across the community is crucial to this.
“Everyone has been very disappointed that the current centre at Whitchurch has been unable to reopen, and this is a situation that is not going to change as the building is not structurally sound.
“A new facility would be a massive benefit to all and is something Shropshire Council is committed to delivering.”
Councillor Picton said they had considered creating a temporary pool while construction takes place, but it had been ruled out due to cost – and because the new site is being built on the location of the old facility.
The council leader said that the financial reality had impacted on decisions over the projects and that the facilities for Shrewsbury could not be built "at any cost".
She said: "When we looked at swimming facilities in the past, not just Whitchurch but Shrewsbury, the figures we were working to were seven to eight million pounds for Whitchurch and phase one of the Shrewsbury project we had £10m set aside for.
"Obviously that will not work now and we have prioritised Whitchurch and it will come in around that £12m mark."
She added: "We have had to make a very difficult decision and while I am absolutely thrilled we are moving ahead with Whitchurch we have prioritised Whitchurch because Whitchurch does not have a pool and Shrewsbury does have the Quarry facility which is still up and running and doing very well.
"But, what we have had to do is make a decision to go back to the drawing board to some extent for Shrewsbury."
Councillor Motley added: “Swimming facilities must be maintained in Shrewsbury and we will ensure that they are. The Quarry remains open.
“We acknowledge the strength of feeling there is for the facilities at The Quarry and will continue to support the site while we explore all the options, but we must also acknowledge the reality of managing limited budgets and be prepared to explore partnerships and the possibility of pursuing opportunities at the Shrewsbury Sports Village.”
The previous plan for Shrewsbury would have seen a 25-metre eight-lane competition pool and a 17 metre by 10 metre learner pool built at the sports village, while the Quarry would have included a 25-metre four-lane training pool, a leisure pool and complementary leisure facilities.
