Plans axed for community hub at former baths

Flag Lane Baths closed in 2016 when Crewe Lifestyle Centre opened

Plans to turn a former swimming baths into a community hub have been dropped.

A scheme for the Flag Lane Baths site in Crewe, which has been closed since 2016, has been pulled due to significant cost increases and delays with the project, Cheshire East Council said.

It was one of several regeneration projects being developed with support from the government’s Towns Fund and was being overseen by Crewe Town Board.

The board said it now backed fresh plans by the local authority for an alternative provision school at the site which could accommodate up to 75 pupils.

The government and council have been asked to reallocate the remaining grant funding for the community hub scheme to support other projects in the town.

Tony Davison, chair of Crewe Town Board, said the decision to no longer support the community hub scheme had not been taken lightly.

'We must take action'

He said the funding needed to be spent by the end of March 2026, and that there were concerns about the structure of the building and rising costs which meant it was not possible to complete the project.

“We must take action now to ensure the grant funding from the Towns Fund stays in the town and can be used positively elsewhere, or we will lose it altogether,” he said.

Recommendations to withdraw funding for the original project and begin work on plans for an alternative use for the site are subject to approval by Cheshire East Council’s economy and growth committee at its meeting on 25 September.

Any development of the site will also be subject to other approvals, including planning permission.

Councillor Michael Gorman, deputy leader of the council and chair of the economy and growth committee, said the authority had begun discussions with the Department for Education and an academy trust about plans for the new alternative provision school.

David Edwards, of the Always Ahead charity – which was behind the initial plans – said: “With a heavy heart, we agree with the town board that this project cannot be delivered.”

He said the charity was supportive of the new proposals for the site.