New £5.5m leisure centre plan for Southwell stalls

Plans for a new leisure centre in Southwell have stalled amid a row over the future of the town's existing pool.

Newark and Sherwood District Council (NSDC) has said it is willing to spend £5.5m on the new leisure centre.

But it has said it cannot progress as some members of Southwell Leisure Centre Trust want the existing pool repaired before the new one is built.

However, the trust said it could not move forward as the council wanted to be "gifted" the site for free.

Council leader, Paul Peacock, released a joint statement with Andy Freeman, chairman of Active4Today, operators of the leisure centre, to provide "an update on what is happening and to kick into touch some of the misinformation and rumours that have been thrown around" since plans for the new leisure centre were announced last year.

The statement says even though "everyone knows money is tight right now, and all councils are under pressure" the authority has committed to spending £5.5m on a brand new main pool and learner pool.

It added: "By now, we had hoped to have made good progress in developing designs and proposals for the new swimming facility. And we want to do this with the swimming club, Southwell Town Council and others with an interest in the centre.

"Unfortunately, Southwell Leisure Centre Trust, the owners of the site, have not given their consent to progress with the new facility and the district council cannot move forward without this.

"Some members of the trust are holding on, wanting the district council to repair the pool and build a new one. To be honest, that option was never on the table as it would be a waste of people's money and this has been explained to the trustees."

The council took over the management of the centre under a 25-year lease in 2021, when the trust could not afford to maintain the facility.

It added it had since spent £352,000 on historical repairs to the existing pool and further work costing £750,000 was planned.

However, Jeremy Berridge, chairman of the trust, denied it had delayed the plans and said it needed to make sure it received fair value for the existing pool as it was a freehold asset owned by the people of the town.

He said: "The provisions of the Charities Act 2011 only permits land and buildings held in a charitable trust to be disposed of at value and then subject to certain conditions. Trustees did not make the law and cannot amend it, therefore they have to observe it.

"The issue of the repair to the existing pool is an entirely separate issue to the provision of a new pool as one is the shorter-term contractual obligation to repair a pool under one ownership and the other is to provide a new facility under different ownership. One cannot delay the other and the timeline demonstrates this."

The main pool has been closed since October, after it started leaking 8,750 litres of water a day - a problem that would cost £645,000 to repair.

Jo Harbord, chair of Southwell Swimming Club, has started a petition to urge the council to repair the current pool. It has been signed by almost 2,300 people.

She said: "Whilst we applaud the proposal from NSDC to build a new swimming complex, we do not consider that it's appropriate to have to wait two years for a fix to our lack of pool.

"Neither do we believe that the estimate of two years is realistic, given that NSDC have neither the land nor the funds to commit to this project.

"It's a very real concern that despite all good intentions from the council, this is a project that may well be kicked into the long grass over and over again and never come to fruition."

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