Sheffield Ponds Forge leisure pool to stay shut until 2022

The leisure pool at Ponds Forge in Sheffield was closed before the summer holidays

Deterioration caused during the Covid lockdown is being blamed for a decision to keep a South Yorkshire leisure pool closed until January next year.

The pool at Ponds Forge in Sheffield was closed before the summer holidays so damage to the flumes could be fixed.

Sheffield City Trust (SCT), which runs the city centre venue, said the problems would cost £500,000 to repair.

The rest of Ponds Forge, including the competition pool, remains open for use, the trust said.

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Sheffield Council, SCT's main funder, has given millions of pounds to the trust over the past few years to keep it going after council officers found it was "haemorrhaging" cash, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Work to remove the flumes from the leisure pool was "progressing well", SCT said, and it was bringing forward other planned work including an upgrade to the leisure pool area. 

Swimmers are still able to use the competition pool at Ponds Forge, SCT says

The trust said the closure provided an "opportunity to modernise some existing features", including creating a new disability-friendly zone and baby swimming area, a more powerful wave experience and refurbishment of the toddler zone and lazy river area.

Councillor Terry Fox, leader of the council, said the prolonged closure would be "disappointing for some people", but it was important "to prevent further disruption and closures in the future".

The whole of Ponds Forge was closed at the beginning of the first coronavirus lockdown and was originally not set to reopen until April 2021 because the trust said it would be too expensive.

But following a campaign by swimming clubs it eventually reopened at the end of October 2021, with the council providing extra money to support facilities.

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