Fresh call for Shrewsbury swimming pool to stay in town centre

Consultation on the future of the pool has been extended after Shropshire Council published the wrong financial figures and had to print a corrected version.

But after discussing the options for refurbishing or moving the pool to a new site away from the Quarry, Shrewsbury Town Council has again called for it the pool to stay in the town centre.

Councillor Jon Tandy told a meeting of the authority on Monday night: "I would like to see it stay in the town. Most people would like to keep it in town and as a town council, we need to try and keep it there."

Shropshire Council's revised figures showed that a new pool at the Shrewsbury Sports Village, in Sundorne, would bring in £250,295 a year, instead of £194,994 stated in the original report.

This makes moving the pool from the Quarry to the Sports Village the best option for the future, according to Shropshire Council.

But Councillor Hannah Fraser said the new figures were a "big change" in terms of revenue.

She said: "In my mind, the change puts a big question over the validity of the figures. We need to ask if they are right as they have changed quite substantially since the report.

"I would appreciate more time to look at the new numbers."

Councillor Fraser said councillors were in agreement that they wanted to keep the pool in the town but stressed their need to look carefully at the new figures.

Councillor Peter Nutting dubbed Shropshire Council's report as "double dutch" and suggested they invited George Candler, director of commissioning at Shropshire Council, in order to gain some more information.

He said: "We need to stress the town centre is the better location, that is the first thing, but I am open minded from choosing between the various options."

Councillor Nutting said out of the three town centre options he would not mind if the decision depended on money.

Councillor Andrew Bannerman said he was "perplexed" by the report and expressed his confusion at the possibility of increasing parking at the Quarry site due to almost half of users coming to the pool by foot or on bike.

Councillor Fraser also questioned whether councillors had all the information in front of them and questioned the complexity of the report.

She said: "The report seems to be complicated, making the town centre look like the more expensive option."

Previously councillors voiced concerns that the Shropshire Council-commissioned report provided to explain the options, was "skewed" towards one of the potential locations – Shrewsbury Sports Village in Sundorne.

Town clerk Helen Ball used the analogy that councillors felt as though the report was trying to "compare apples and pears".

The council agreed to look over the new figures and try and arrange a meeting with George Candler or the council's strategic leisure team but maintain that they want the pool to remain in the town centre.