Marple Swimming Pool currently closed

[andy+kirsty]

Snap!

The junction for Romiley baths isn't good - too narrow, on a bend with fast moving traffic and cars joining from other side streets - but we've managed with it for the past however many months. This is why I don't see Parkfield as an issue, especially if it was part of a one way system or the junction was remodelled somehow.

Exciting times - Let's hope our local councillors don't mess it up.

Don't worry, I was being a bit tongue in cheek!   It is quite a slog on the bike up to the top of Mellor and much as its great aerobic exercise, I  wouldn't blame anyone for not wanting to do it!  Although it's not a bad cycle to Romiley pool along the canal towpath.  Or even up that nice cycle lane they built alongside Otterspool Road  

But equally I do drive to Romiley as well as cycling.  The children have their lessons there now.  And I kinda look forward to when they can go somewhere nearer to the house again!

[andrewbowden]

Understood. I was more thinking of families taking kids for swimming lessons, or people attending the exercise classes in the fitness studio. I permanently work from home and pre-covid, I used to drive to Romiley four times a week from Marple at lunchtimes. I will do so again once I'm vaccinated but I'd much prefer to walk to a Marple facility.

Don't worry, I was being a bit tongue in cheek!   It is quite a slog on the bike up to the top of Mellor and much as its great aerobic exercise, I  wouldn't blame anyone for not wanting to do it!  Although it's not a bad cycle to Romiley pool along the canal towpath.  Or even up that nice cycle lane they built alongside Otterspool Road  

But equally I do drive to Romiley as well as cycling.  The children have their lessons there now.  And I kinda look forward to when they can go somewhere nearer to the house again!

[Google]

As a resident of Hollins Green Road I have to admit that pulling out on to Station Road can sometimes be a nightmare (especially as people seem to be parking on the roadside further and further up Station Road but that's a different subject) and I've nearly been in a few accidents because of it. Where Parkfield Ave is, I fear it'll be much the same and the house on the corner has high trees/bushes, making vision towards Marple Bridge even trickier. Traffic lights would be an eyesore, stem the flow of traffic and not overly fair on the residents on Station Road either.

Option 3 is by far the best option but with access from where it is now in my opinion. I'm not a swimmer (as I'm horrific at it and will stick to running) but I can't help but feel that a 4 lane pool won't be adequate. With a nice new facility there will be more people wanting to swim, including new swimmers and the pool will soon be overloaded. With the opportunity of a brand new facility, a 6 lane pool should without question be looked at.

Exciting stuff though 

[andy+kirsty]

I personally don't see any increase in existing issues with traffic in Option 3.

If those driving to the baths are from Compstall / Bridge / Mellor a junction on Station Road is the correct side of things and reduces traffic movements through the district centre. A route from High Lane becomes more complicated unless traffic routes down Cross Lane.

Parkfield Ave is currently used by the police who exit it on blue lights, I'm not aware of any issues / accidents. Hollins Lane is a busy road that has a lot of traffic movements which is generally issue free. There may also be the option of using the 'Fire station' car park if links between the two places were improved as well as the Asda car park. This diversifies the routes people will choose when looking to park.

These are just outline plans. Once a decision has been made there will be a detailed look into the specifics which may include redesign of that junction. There may even be a compromise with a one way system, traffic entering using Parkfield and moving through to join Stockport Road using Memorial Park Drive or the reverse.

It would be a shame to pass up the option of a much better designed community hub on the off chance that one junction may not be perfect, especially when it is accepted by most that we want to see an overall reduction in traffic movement in Marple.

A

[Howard]

If you live in Mellor, cycling to a new leisure centre will certainly do you the world of good in terms of exercise.  Do that a few times a week and you can probably save yourself gym membership fees!

(I speak from experience of doing the cycle up to Mellor three times a week over the early summer.)

Understood. I was more thinking of families taking kids for swimming lessons, or people attending the exercise classes in the fitness studio. I permanently work from home and pre-covid, I used to drive to Romiley four times a week from Marple at lunchtimes. I will do so again once I'm vaccinated but I'd much prefer to walk to a Marple facility.

Personally, I think this is a once in a lifetime opportunity and they would really be missing a trick if they don't bring the whole site into the project. By including facilities for Scouts, police, senior citizens, a library, and the council buildings it would set the site up for years and years to come. I'm a pretty long term resident of Marple and I vaguely recall visiting the library when it was in what is now the Scout Hut. That must have been sometime around 1972-3 but I've used the current one all the rest of my life. However, libraries are changing significantly and I think we can probably use the space for the current one better and bring it into line with other community facilities which are needed by the local population which are also pretty decrepit. I shudder to think what the combined energy consumption for the senior citizens hall, the Scout Hut, the health centre, the police station and Hollins House are. By using modern building and insulation techniques, the use of solar and renewable energy sources can make it a much more sustainable facility. For example, how about laying a huge ground source facility under the grass of the park. It's a large area and could contribute significantly to the energy needs of the facility.

[andrewbowden]

I think most people in Marple will be within walking distance. It will be visitors from Marple Bridge and Mellor who are closer to Marple than Romiley who would use that entrance and are  more likely to use cars.

If you live in Mellor, cycling to a new leisure centre will certainly do you the world of good in terms of exercise.  Do that a few times a week and you can probably save yourself gym membership fees!

(I speak from experience of doing the cycle up to Mellor three times a week over the early summer.)

[Howard]

Everyone seems concerned about the traffic problem with option 3.... are these not the same folks who are telling us to leave our cars at home and walk or cycle?

I think most people in Marple will be within walking distance. It will be visitors from Marple Bridge and Mellor who are closer to Marple than Romiley who would use that entrance and are  more likely to use cars.

[jimblob]

Everyone seems concerned about the traffic problem with option 3.... are these not the same folks who are telling us to leave our cars at home and walk or cycle?

[Melancholyflower]

New plans are welcome, I don't have a strong opinion over options, but 3 looks promising.

Main concerns echo the earlier comments about road access and swimming pool size.

• Four swimming lanes is very disappointing and effectively will mean crowding as per the old pool. If that is the only alternative though, then that is that.
• There is absolutely no doubt that two well-used junctions so close together will cause chaos on Station Road, and flow will be much reduced.

If, as Mark suggests, there is a viable option to retain the existing road entrance and still have option 3 that would be my choice.

[andrewbowden]

I hate to admit it but I have lived in Marple for 55 years and never swam at Marple  - but would love to !
I swam at Manchester Aquatics Centre from 2001 until about 2012 and then at Romiley - I was told that Marple pool was very crowded first thing  in the morning.
So 2 things.
As other people have already said 4 lanes is not enough, it should be 6 at least, but I suspect the decision has already been made.
Using Parkfield Avenue is not a good idea. Traffic of Station Road is fast and it is too close to Hollins Lane. Using the existing entrance off Stockport Road makes more sense as the traffic at the junction of Hollins Lane slow  cause breaks in the traffic making it easier to get out.

Yep, it could be horrendous at times.  I went regularly because it was handy for my house so I could go there at lunchtimes, but you really had to choose your time.  Wednesday evenings after 8:30 would be absolutely dead, but at 7:45 you'd struggle to move, there were that many people in there.  Didn't help that they usually only had one swimming lane, and the rest a free for all - swimming pools use space more efficiently when people swim in a circle.

The new pool will presumably be 25m so will be a little longer, but not much.  Given capacity was an issue with the old pool, I was a little surprised to learn they were only looking at a four lane pool.  Yes there will be a children's pool, but that's not much help for adult swimmers.  A five lane pool (like Romiley) would only require an extra 2m in width, although how that impacts machinery and plant requirements, I don't know.  It will still be the smallest pool in Stockport.

We are assuming here that by four lane they mean something a similar width to the original pool - i.e. 2m width per lane.  Unless someone has decided not to use those lengths and decided four lanes means each is 2.5m wide or something!

[shambles]

I hate to admit it but I have lived in Marple for 55 years and never swam at Marple  - but would love to !
I swam at Manchester Aquatics Centre from 2001 until about 2012 and then at Romiley - I was told that Marple pool was very crowded first thing  in the morning.
So 2 things.
As other people have already said 4 lanes is not enough, it should be 6 at least, but I suspect the decision has already been made.
Using Parkfield Avenue is not a good idea. Traffic of Station Road is fast and it is too close to Hollins Lane. Using the existing entrance off Stockport Road makes more sense as the traffic at the junction of Hollins Lane slow  cause breaks in the traffic making it easier to get out.

[Dave]

we (residents) are specifically being asked which option we prefer. I think rather than cost, it will be negotiations with the NHS and / or the Senior Citizens that determines if option 3 is adopted. My personal view is that it is very important to tell them that if we're going to do this at all, let's do it properly and go all out for Option 3 - we won't get another chance and both the Senior Citizens Hall and the Clinic buildings are way past their best. It would be a missed opportunity to leave them as they are.

I entirely agree Mark - if we really are being given a choice, then option 3 is a no brainer.  And as Deniseredmini says, the more of those poor-quality existing buildings we can replace, the better. Including the police station, as you say Mark.  By the way I like the name Deniseredmini - thinking of changing mine to Davegreyskoda 

The debate about vehicle access is tricky.   There has been occasional talk here and elsewhere of discouraging vehicles and prioritising pedestrians on part of Stockport Road in the middle of Marple - even maybe having some kind of shared space.  So re-routing vehicles away from Stockport Road would make good sense. If Parkfield Avenue doesn't work, maybe it might be possible to make direct vehicle access from Station Road?

[Deniseredmini]

Replacing all the newer buildings in park is a great option (including the police station).  It is an opportunity not to be missed to have buildings fit for the 21st Century that complement the older Hollins House.  I also have worries about the proposal to use Parkfield Road as an entrance.  I don't live anywhere near that road but I can imagine the residents will object on the grounds that it is currently very quiet and not suitable as a main entrance.  I don't see why the current entrance cannot be kept.  How much more would it cost to slightly increase the size of the pool (five lanes)?  How would four lanes compare with Romiley Pool?

[amazon]

I don't think it is negative to highlight potential problems and the impact on traffic on Station Road if the entrance was via Parkfield Road would need to be looked at carefully to ensure it is viable. Friends of the Park made similar comments when the idea was put to us in the summer. I do think Option 3 could go ahead even if the entrance was kept as it is now.

Personally I'd like to see the Police Station go too, even if the Police don't want to be part of the new facility.

Good coment police station would be better gone is it used a lot or just a place to rest and brew up in

[admin]

I’m not actually being negative.
I would love a new pool and all the facilities that are proposed and I did say that option 3 looks best.
However, I think the access/egress for all needs to be safe and it would nice to know if this is being taken into consideration (which I’m sure it will be).

I don't think it is negative to highlight potential problems and the impact on traffic on Station Road if the entrance was via Parkfield Road would need to be looked at carefully to ensure it is viable. Friends of the Park made similar comments when the idea was put to us in the summer. I do think Option 3 could go ahead even if the entrance was kept as it is now.

Personally I'd like to see the Police Station go too, even if the Police don't want to be part of the new facility.