Next step towards new Whitchurch leisure centre as pool remains shut

Shropshire Council has launched a feasibility survey to deliver a new swimming pool and leisure facilities in the North Shropshire town.

The old centre, off Bridgewater Street, has been closed for two years and the council said this week that it will not reopen.

Defects in the pool include a major leak and Shropshire Council says it will not reopen in its present guise.

However the council is backing an option for a new centre with a 25-metre pool, a fitness suite, multi-function rooms and a cafe.

Cecilia Motley, Shropshire Council’s cabinet member for communities, place, tourism and transport, welcomed the launch of the feasibility survey and engagement with interested parties locally.

She said: “Everyone has been very disappointed that the current centre has been unable to reopen, but this is a situation that is not going to change.

"The building is not structurally sound, but a new facility could be a massive benefit to all.”

In June 2021 Shropshire councillors backed an option to build a new swimming centre, which will feature a six-lane 25m pool with a movable floor, a 35-station fitness suite, multi-function rooms and a café with 20 covers.

The development is proposed for the same site as the current swimming centre, which has been closed since March 2020.

Last summer councillors heard that a new centre would be the most viable and cost-effective way to replace the current centre, which has not been able to reopen since the pandemic began.

Unlike other pools across the county Whitchurch did not reopen as lockdown restrictions lifted because of a leak.

The council says that, since the pool’s closure in March 2020, investigations to identify the cause of an ongoing leak at the facility have been underway.

"They have shown that the practicalities of carrying out repair works show that the swimming pool defects are such that it will not be able to reopen in its present guise."