New £10m pool for Shrewsbury ahead of Quarry rebuild

The Quarry centre site dates back to 1864

A new £10m swimming pool will be built in Shropshire before the demolition and rebuild of the county's current facility.

"Complications" with the plans and funding for Shrewsbury's Quarry leisure centre means a new pool at Sundorne Sports Village will be built first.

But it has been reaffirmed plans for the Quarry will go ahead.

A full report on Swimming in Shrewsbury would be released in March, the council said.

The council still intends to create new centres on both sites, after a report for Wednesday's Shropshire Council's cabinet meeting gave the impression that the proposals for the Quarry site had been dropped, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The council has reaffirmed that plans for the Quarry in Shrewsbury will go ahead

The report described the new pool proposal as "replacement of existing swimming provision at the Quarry with new provision within Shrewsbury" and stated: "Final priority decision - new competition pool at SSV only."

Cecilia Motley, leisure portfolio holder at the council said "We are committed to keeping swimming and fitness facilities in the heart of Shrewsbury town centre at the current Quarry site and to the additional facilities at Sundorne Sports Village, and I don't think that's clear at all from this item.

"The stage two concept design will identify that the sports village pool needs to be completed first to retain the opportunity to swim in Shrewsbury and that the Quarry facility can't be funded immediately - not least because there are complications attached to the site which do not pertain to Sundorne."

The council will borrow the £10m in three instalments over the next three financial years and no timeline for the Quarry scheme has been confirmed, but Ms Motley said the authority was optimistic that funding - previously estimated at £35m - would be obtained from external sources.