Shifnal swimmers left high and dry by decision to cancel new £1.5m pool

It follows a decision by the town council that the project will not go ahead due to a shortfall in funding and the prospect of having to impose a tax burden on residents in the town.

But Kevin Turley said it would have meant only £1 extra on the council tax of someone owning a property in Band B and many people would have been in favour of it in order to provide more leisure facilities for Shifnal residents.

Mr Turley, who is now an independent county councillor for Shifnal North, was chairman of the now defunct Swimming Pool Committee which raised over £30,000 for the project.

The committee dates back to 2012 when a petition which eventually got over 2,000 signatures was launched to provide a pool in Shifnal, which last had such a facility inside the squash club which closed in 2004.

Then in 2016 plans were drawn up for land off Haughton Road to include a new pool and 400 homes - a consultation was held with the public which found them in favour of the scheme.

Mr Turley was behind the original petition and was a long term campaigner for a pool, as he felt people in the town and schoolchildren should have their own facility rather than have to travel to Madeley, Wellington or Newport to swim.

He said: "Shifnal has one of the largest secondary schools in the county and there is definitely a need for more leisure facilities in the town.

"I realise the cost of the project is expensive and any council will tell you that maintaining a swimming pool is a massive expense but there has been a lot of work, time and effort and fundraising around this project and to just be told the decision has been made without any recent opinion being sought is not great.

"Yes it would have cost the council-tax payer more money but the way I worked it out, it would have been £1 per property on an average band B property and I think many of the residents would have been okay paying this - we will never know.

"The people in the town have contributed around £30,000 to the money raised and it will now have to be decided what happens to that - whether it goes into another community project or is given back."

Apart from the fundraising, the town council had obtained £500,000 in Section 106 money and was expected to raise the rest out of its reserves and possible grant funding from Sport England.

A statement from the town council said: "Whilst an area of land along with a financial contribution was offered by developers for a swimming pool development in Shifnal, unfortunately a significant shortfall in funding means the project is no longer feasible. "

Reaction on social media was mixed, with members of the Shifnal Matters group debating the news.

Steve Tong said: "Out of interest where do the children from Shifnal Primary, St Andrews, Beckbury and Albrighton schools go for their swimming lessons? Presume it costs schools a fortune (and wasted time) to bus them over to one of the many pools in Telford (who are lucky enough to have Wellington, Oakengates, Madeley, Newport and soon-to-be Dawley swimming pool).

Kyle Chatfield said: "I don't think a swimming pool should be at the top of the priority list if I'm honest."