Winning on the pools...?
BUILDING a new swimming pool in the outer west of Newcastle will cause a “significant” loss of facilities compared to the mothballed site it will replace, a report warned.
The current West Denton Pool has been left shut since the start of the Covid pandemic by operator GLL and Newcastle City Council has announced plans to replace it with a new facility close by.
The council has argued that it would cost more than £4m to refurbish the existing 60-year-old site, while opening a “cost-effective, easy to manage” modular pool bolted onto the side of West Denton Leisure Centre could cost just £2.3m.
But a report on the plans seen by The Chronicle states that a new centre would cause a “significant loss of swimming pool area”, as well as removing gym facilities, car parking, and social spaces for the outer west community.
The feasibility study, conducted by consultants Turner and Townsend last November, lists improved efficiency and a quick construction time as advantages of a new facility – as well as the lower build cost.
Plans for the new site, which would also be run by GLL, were announced in February and the council says that it would feature a single 25m pool.
There are three pools at the current facility, the largest of which is 33m – though the Turner and Townsend report inaccurately states that there are only two.
The report adds that no detailed surveys had been carried out into the state of the existing pool at time of writing, but that it “needs extensive refurbishment due to several issues” – including failing boilers and pumping equipment, the presence of asbestos, and the structural and water integrity of the site “possibly beginning to fail”.
The city council insists that a new pool “will give swimmers a much better experience – not worse”.
But Chris Parsons, a local resident opposing the move, thinks a refit of the current pool would give better “pound for pound” value to the community – and likened it to the renovation of the City Pool and Turkish Baths, which were shut by the council in 2013 before being given a £7.5m restoration by Fusion Lifestyle.
Mr Parsons said: “Look at what happened with the City Baths. The council said there was no hope there, now look at what has been done with a bit of vision.
“There are serious questions here. If you refurbished the current site properly then you could have a carbon-neutral,
self-sufficient, multipool site that would last another 60 years if it was done properly.”
Chapel ward councillor Marc Donnelly criticised the council for not including the West Denton Pool in bids for Government funding to cover lockdown-related losses or install eco-friendly infrastructure.
The independent councillor added that the pool “could be recommissioned but there is not the will from the council” and that the refusal to renovate it was an “insult to the people of the outer west”.
A council spokesperson said: “Against a backdrop of an ageing
facility with high operating costs in need of modernisation, coupled with declining levels of usage by residents, GLL took the difficult decision not to reopen West Denton Pool. While the council was disappointed at that decision, it understood GLL’s situation and set about exploring alternatives to keeping a pool in the outer west.
“A 25-metre, modern swimming pool will give swimming clubs, schools, and the community, a brand-new swimming pool, linked with all the other sports facilities under one roof – a sports hall, gym, and outdoor pitches.”