New £20m leisure hub a step nearer
Planning application submitted for the facility in Marple
The new community hub would have a five-lane swimming pool, a ground floor library with a small cafe, a 60-station fitness suite, shared community spaces, and the relocated Marple clinic
APLANNING application has been submitted for a new £20m community hub in Marple.
It marks a step forward for the project which is set to kickstart regeneration in the town.
The scheme would see Marple Library demolished along with the existing police station and health clinic, to be replaced with the new community and leisure facility.
Stockport council was awarded £20m of levelling up funds in March 2023 which it will use for the Marple Community Hub.
If the plans are approved, the new community hub would have a five-lane swimming pool, a ground floor library with a small cafe, a 60-station fitness suite, shared community spaces, and the relocated
Marple clinic.
A total of 72 car parking spaces are proposed as part of the plan, with seven accessible bays and eight bays reserved for the police.
Four of the parking bays will have electric vehicle charging points, and this could be increased to ten in future.
The plan includes an extension to the Memorial Park playground, as well as planting 89 new trees.
Changes to the surrounding roads include a new coach layby outside the Regent Cinema, a new signalised crossing next to Memorial Park Drive, and more signalised crossings at Manor Hill Road and near the canal bridge.
Memorial Park Drive is set to be resurfaced with a new passing bay, and the path from the canal to Hollins House and Memorial Park Drive could be resurfaced and widened to become a shared cycle and walking route.
The former Marple Baths closed in 2018 for health and safety reasons, and residents in the town have been waiting years for a replacement.
The existing Marple Library on the site dates back to the 1970s and is ‘coming to the end of its lifespan’ according to the new planning application.
The council has already appointed a main contractor, Willmott Dixon Construction Limited, who will be carrying out the design and build of the new leisure and community hub.
More than 750 people took part in a public consultation about the plans.
The planning application for the community hub needs to be decided by Thursday, June 13.