Council picks Dawley school site as preferred location for new £8m pool
A school in Dawley has been announced as Telford & Wrekin Council's preferred site for a new £8m swimming pool bearing the name of the town's most famous son.
The council has confirmed that talks are underway with The Telford Langley School about building a new council-owned Captain Matthew Webb Swimming Pool at the site.
In a statement the council said that site would have "a number of benefits for residents in the borough".
It pointed to the setting being a "central swimming facility", "a convenient location for local primary schools", and added that it would complement the authority's sport and leisure facilities already located at school.
The new pool is expected to cost more than £8m.
The council said it would be open for use by the general public as well as local schools.
Telford & Wrekin Council's Labour leader, Councillor Shaun Davies said: “This is an exciting opportunity to work with Telford Langley School to explore options on this site for the Captain Matthew Webb Swimming Pool.
"This is our preferred location for the site with options to share leisure facilities here and provide access to swimming for pupils as well as members of the public.
"The new pool will mean that more children can learn to swim – an essential life skill but also a great way to keep fit and have fun. There will also be family swimming sessions, lane swimming, water-based exercise classes and general public swimming.
"Not only this, swimming has a wider impact on communities, with Swim England estimating that the social value of swimming is £2.4 billion in England – reducing crime, improving social and community development, improving life satisfaction and physical and mental health. It is these benefits that we also want our residents to enjoy."
The announcement comes only days after opposition councillors urged the council to drop the project and review the authority's capital budget.
Speaking at the authority's full council meeting Conservative Councillor Nigel Dugmore, ward member for Muxton, called for the council to reconsider and build a leisure pool in Telford town centre instead.
It came after Conservative group leader Councillor Andrew Eade branded the plan a 'vanity project', adding that it is a "swimming pool we don’t need".
Councillor Lee Carter, the Labour cabinet member for the economy and neighbourhood services, rejected the claims, saying: “Dawley is one of the most challenged communities in our borough in an area where they have no access to leisure facilities at all.”
