Shrewsbury swimming pool plans move forward amid calls to 'not let this opportunity go by again'

Architects and planners will now start work on full designs for a “competition standard” pool at Shrewsbury Sports Village (SSV) on Sundorne Road, after approval was granted to begin work on the initial phase of the project.

The design and planning phase of the scheme is expected to take around a year, and will also see a planning application submitted and a build contractor appointed. Initial costs for design and planning work have been estimated at around £2.25m.

At a meeting of the council’s cabinet on Wednesday representatives from Shropshire Amateur Swimming Association(ASA) urged the council to back the scheme, describing it as an “embarrassment” that the county did not currently have competition standard facilities.

“We would like to ask you all to support the future of swimming in Shropshire as a whole by saying yes to the proposed project,” said Jean Childs, reading out a public question on behalf of the association.

“The new pool would give Shropshire swimmers the opportunity to excel in the sport they love by providing a venue fit for purpose, suitable for training both in and out of the pool and competitions fit to represent the county with prestige.

“Not only will this facility be used and supported by Shropshire ASA swimmers across the whole of the county, it would bring a fantastic venue for Shrewsbury, the County Town.

“Shropshire ASA would urge the council to plan for the future generations of this Town and County and not let this opportunity go by yet again, we have been disappointed so many times before.”

Around 20 per cent of the scheme’s costs will be funded by Shropshire Council’s capital programme, with the remainder provided by government backed loan schemes and other sources of grant funding.

The finalised proposal will then come back before full council for approval ahead of the build stage, which would then take a further two years to complete.

The council says it will run a separate consultation on the future of the town’s popular Quarry pool site after the sports village scheme was “sufficiently advanced”, but in a report put to cabinet once again stated its position that the SSV project would not affect the future of the Quarry.

“The Council will look at future options for the Quarry site once the SSV project is sufficiently advanced, which would be subject to a separate consultation in due course,” the report said.