Marple Swimming Pool currently closed

[admin]

A new public statement has been made by Stockport Council on the Marple Community Hub scheme this morning:

For ease, and for the record, this is posted below too:

Marple Leisure and Community Hub Update, January 2022
A project team within the council is continuing to work with Marple Ward Members.

The team will look to bring forward a scheme for a leisure and community hub, which would replace Marple Pool and provide updated leisure and community facilities for the local area. This builds on the community and stakeholder engagement work which was undertaken in March and December 2020.

Since the last update in November 2021, the council has received verbal feedback on our application to the Government’s Levelling Up Fund which was submitted in June 2021 and was largely based on plans developed through the public engagement process and amended in line with specific concerns about access and parking, proximity to neighbouring residential properties and protection of woodland in the park.

The feedback indicated that the scheme submitted demonstrated a strong strategic fit, good value for money and met local priorities and challenges well.

Unfortunately the Levelling Up Fund was extremely competitive, and our bid was not successful on this occasion. The feedback has encouraged us to continue developing a scheme incorporating a range of leisure, community and health provision in readiness for a potential further round of Levelling Up Fund or similar Government funding schemes. We are continuing dialogue with a range of local partners to progress this project.

In parallel with developing a larger scheme, development continues on a core scheme focusing on pool, leisure and library offer and we have assembled the professional team required to bring this work to a pre-planning stage. We aim to have completed this work by the end of April and will issue further updates as progress is made and we have a developed scheme ready for public engagement and an agreed funding strategy.

Link: https://www.stockport.gov.uk/news/marple-leisure-and-community-hub-update-january-2022

[Condate]

Well that inspires...  I'm going for a new pool opening in 2027.

That's ok, or a bit early for the very large number of us who would not use a pool unless we were forced to at gunpoint and have never understood the point of a leisure centre (and remember The Brittas Empire!).

Ok, I know a lot of people do want to use this sort of thing, so it's probably worth doing, but it is a well to remember that great many people are not remotely interested.

[andrewbowden]

I'd guess they won't do anything until plans are finalised for the replacement.  Just in case.

[admin]

So anyone know what's happening to the old Baths that are now starting to look tatty on Stockport Road

Nothing has been stated yet. At a guess (I have no inside info) the site is likely to be sold for retail or similar to part fund the new facility. It might be possible to use it as a temporary library while the new facility is being built but it would probably be too much of a technical challenge due to the empty pool. I understand that the dance floor that used to be installed over the top of it sometimes was disposed of / reused some years ago.

[Cyberman]

So we missed out on the Government's Levelling Up Fund. Come on...  are there no Tory supporting local construction company owners who can shell out a nice backhander to their MP?  Alternatively can we incorporate a small Peppa Pig attraction?

[amazon]

Well that inspires...  I'm going for a new pool opening in 2027.

Some of us may see it .

[amazon]

Based on current performance, I think I'd almost take that. 

  so anyone no whats Hapening to the old Baths that are now starting to look tatty on stockport road

[Belly]

Well that inspires...  I'm going for a new pool opening in 2027.

Based on current performance, I think I'd almost take that. 

[andrewbowden]

Well that inspires...  I'm going for a new pool opening in 2027.

[admin]

A new public statement has been made by Stockport Council on the Marple Community Hub scheme this morning:

https://www.stockport.gov.uk/news/marple-leisure-and-community-hub-update-november-2021

For ease, and for the record, this is posted below too:

Marple Leisure and Community Hub Update, November 2021

Following two phases of public engagement and ongoing discussion with local stakeholders, the Council is developing final proposals for a leisure and community hub in Marple.

We have been amending the original preferred scheme to address some of the specific concerns raised by local residents and stakeholders through the engagement process, including:

• Access and parking
• Proximity to neighbouring residential properties
• Protection of woodland in the park
• Preference of Marple Senior Citizens Association and 1st Marple Scouts to remain in their current accommodation.

We have explored a number of alternative locations within Marple Memorial Park, which were suggested through the engagement process, but our preferred location remains the site of the current library, with the scheme re-orientated to distance it from residential properties and protect the woodland to the rear of the library.

Alongside this, we have continued to evaluate options for funding a new facility. The Council was given the opportunity to apply for the Government’s Levelling Up Fund and submitted a scheme for Marple Leisure and Community Hub based on the preferred option identified through public engagement, with an expanded health offer. The bid was submitted in June and we were informed in late October that our application had been unsuccessful.

In parallel with submitting the Levelling Up Fund bid, the Council has continued to develop a core scheme focusing on pool, leisure and library offer. We will seek to accommodate other services in the scheme if achievable, but our priority is to seek to provide replacement leisure and library facilities for Marple as quickly as possible.

We acknowledge that this project has taken longer than we would have liked, due the complexities of the preferred site and the aspiration to co-locate a range of community and health facilities within a single scheme. We thank local residents for their patience whilst we develop a final scheme which is affordable and addresses the concerns expressed through the engagement process.

We will bring forward updated proposals for public engagement as soon as possible in 2022 and issue a further update in January 2022.

[GM]

At this rate we could have just put a stainless liner in the original pool and atleast had a usable asset that could earn it's keep until they actually decide on what's happening.

Even Dumfries put a temporary one in the carpark whilst there's was rebuilt.

[andrewbowden]

Doesn't time fly...  I was thinking about the lack of updates recently myself.  I did wonder if there was a connection with Stockport Sports Trust (who are currently Life Leisure) winding down due to Covid related finance problems.   The council were supposed to be taking over by the end of summer but that's gone quiet too.

[admin]

Four years today since Swimming Pool problems revealed!

For anyone who uses the local pool, it's closed until at least Thursday "due to essential maintenance on the boilers"
https://www.lifeleisure.net/enterprise/marple

Perhaps whilst they're closed they'll go out and buy a tin of paint to finally tidy up the mess of the changing rooms.  But somehow I doubt it.

Friends of Marple Memorial Park recently wrote to the council expressing dissatisfaction at the lack of feedback on the Community Hub development since we last wrote to them in March 2021 and how long it is taking to make progress. We did receive a prompt reply, which is summarised in the recent minutes of the group's last meeting on 11 October (page 4): https://www.marplememorialpark.org.uk/meetings.html

In completely separate news, we also learned yesterday that the bird bath in the centre of the round bed in Memorial Park originally came from outside the swimming pool before it was extended. does anyone remember that?  Sure enough, there was actually an image on the Virtual History Tour that proves this:

[andrewbowden]

Think it's removal might be temporary, aren't they forming another operating company instead of the current arrangement?.

That's a different thing.

For those that don't know, Life Leisure is a trading name of Stockport Sports Trust, a charity, who run the facilities for the council.  Due to the impact of Covid the charity is going to wind down with council facilities taken over by Stockport Active, a community interest company owned by the council.  They plan to keep the Life Leisure branding and ethos.  So visibly not much will change.

The removal of Marple from the website is probably just more of an operational thing.  No point in mentioning a closed centre if it will never reopen.

[andrewbowden]

Tameside closed Dukinfield pool in spring 2015.  The plan was to replace it with a new pool alongside Hyde Leisure Pool.  Six years on, they're now very close to opening it.  Six years, and that was a relatively uncontroversial plan!

I'm not holding out much hope for earlier than 2024 for Marple.

I should correct myself.  It was 2016 that Dukinfield closed.  So five years.