Fears children will have nowhere to learn to swim if Shrewsbury pool closes
There are fears that children will have nowhere to learn to swim if a Shrewsbury pool closed.
The Quarry Swimming and Fitness Centre has been deemed to be “at the end of its life” with a leak causing one of its pools to shut.
The whole site was also forced to close in July 2022 because of damage to its roof, with it eventually reopening 17 months later.
There were hopes that brand new swimming facilities – including a competition-standard 25-metre pool – would be coming to Sundorne as part of a £28.8 million project to extend Shrewsbury Sports Village.
However, Shropshire Council has confirmed it has “paused” the scheme because it is not currently in a position to borrow the money due to its perilous financial position.
However, while the local authority has confirmed it has no plans to close The Quarry site and is looking to invest in it, members of Shropshire Amateur Swimming Association (ASA) are sceptical.
“Each time a repair needs doing, that removes the swimming facilities from the community and another group of children are left without facilities to learn to swim unless their parents can afford private lessons at two or three times the cost,” said SASA secretary, Mandy Garrott.
“The national curriculum says children should be able to swim 25 metres by the time they are 11. So, where are they going to learn? Shrewsbury is built on a river. How concerning is that?
“Another group of patients also miss out accessing swimming which is for physical and mental health benefits, saving the NHS lots of time and money.
“Shropshire ASA are here to look after our swimming clubs across Shropshire and Shrewsbury Swimming Club have worked hard to try to get back their membership numbers that they lost after the last shutdown.
“They are concerned that when the pool shuts for yet more repairs (not if but when) they will lose more members. They are already struggling as members are unable to get there due to the road redesign by the station, many parents just give up and go home.
“We currently can’t run a county competition in the county as there is not a pool suitable to do so. We have to host this in Wolverhampton, another pool that is constantly under threat. If this should ever close, we will not be able to fulfil our duty and provide county level competitions.”
Fellow Shropshire ASA member, Megan Frost spoke about the issue at a Cabinet meeting this week. She asked what the council’s fallback position if The Quarry is closed due to leaks in the pool.
Councillor James Owen, portfolio holder for housing and leisure, said the authority knows that is a risk, but are looking at options that could be used to mitigate it.
“We need to allow children at primary schools to swim, but there will be alternatives through private ventures that we will have to look into,” he said.
“But that will still come cheaper to us than having to borrow for the whole project. Given the financial position, that is something we’re currently having to look at. But we’re also trying to make sure that we invest in The Quarry to try and reduce the risk of that happening any time soon.”
Council leader, Heather Kidd added she “thought long and hard” about pausing the Sundorne project.
“It’s not like we’re not on your side, it’s the position we’re in,” she said.
“Borrowing £29m when we know the borrowing we have to do will cost us more in loan repayment than we have coming in council tax.
“So, we’re in a really difficult position. It’s not that we’re not signed up to this, it’s just that we’re not in a position where we can raise the money.”
