Marple Swimming Pool currently closed

[andrewbowden]

So bulldoze it and save on costs, put up a temporary pool in its place!. That would not cost millions and atleast return a facility we as council tax payers deserve.

On what basis do you know the price of a temporary pool?  Are you a pool design expert?

[GM]

Personally I couldn't care less about the actual building, it's far from anything which might win an award but what you're effectively admitting is that the council have left it to go to ruin.

So bulldoze it and save on costs, put up a temporary pool in its place!. That would not cost millions and atleast return a facility we as council tax payers deserve.

All we've heard for years is platitudes and excuses from the councillors, design after design and what have we actually got to show for it?.

[andrewbowden]

As I pointed out last time you mentioned a stainless steel liner, one of the issues was the filtration system.  A liner does not solve the problem of the filtration system.  That's probably a good reason why they didn't go with a liner option.  It doesn't solve the problem.

Since then the roof started leaking.  That put pay to the gym (along with social distancing making it unecconomic). I say started leaking.  Several times I was swimming in that pool and found water dropping on me from the roof.  Root's probably been dodgy for years. 

The number of issues the building has, are numerable.  Were it a nice building that would be the pride of a town (like Glossop's pool), I'd be up for saving it.  But it's not.  It's a bit of a simple, boring looking building that is now way past its best.  Even to re-open it for a few years would cost millions.  It's time to let it go.  It lasted a long time. 

Apart from Glossop I can't think of any other local pool in the area anywhere near the age of Marple's.  And whilst it's frustrating that it's closed its doors this way, it's happened. 

[GM]

It certainly sounds more unlikely with every passing year, as how much does a design of this scale cost and then for each consultation and redesign.

I have said relining the original would be a simple task with a stainless steel liner, even as a temporary solution for let's say another 5 year's whilst they actually get designs sorted.

Maybe we just ask Denton for the blueprints ?

Did the council ever actually publish the report on the condition of the building, after spending a lot of money replacing the heating or filter system?

[jimblob]

but some nice commisions for their friendly architects to burn some more money on "detailed design" without actually knowing whether they will ever get funding. Seems the wrong way round to me; secure funds and then design and build to budget.

[GM]

Great, so that's summer for another design/public consultation.

Then autumn redesign, planning, funding and then more paperwork and the inevitable arguments with whomever over its exact placement in the park.

Then three years to probably build and complete the thing, so we are looking atleast 2027 using a fair degree of hope and wishful thinking.

[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, March 2022
Stockport Council has engaged architects to progress the latest round of detailed design work.

Stockport Council has engaged architects to progress the latest round of detailed design work in relation to two options for the proposed Marple Leisure and Community Hub with a view to bringing forward a final scheme for decision and further engagement in Summer 2022. This builds on outline design work that has already been undertaken, the engagement which took place during 2020/21 and the feedback received on the Council’s Levelling Up Fund bid in October 2021.

The first option under development is a scheme which incorporates a range of leisure, community and health provision and is based on the preferred scheme identified through the two phases or engagement work undertaken. It is anticipated that such a scheme could only be progressed with a significant proportion of external funding, but we feel that it is important that we have a workable scheme ready, should suitable funding opportunities arise in the near future.

In the event that the Council is not able to take advantage of external funding opportunities in the near future, a ‘core scheme’ is also under development. Such a scheme would provide a replacement leisure facility (including pool, gym and studio facilities) and a replacement library with some flexible community space.

The preferred site is still in the vicinity of the current library building, though taking into account woodland areas, heritage constraints within the park and the proximity to residential properties.

The Council will be bringing forward proposals regarding the site of the former pool in due course.

[wheels]

It reads as if the our Labour authority had no real idea how to fun the scheme before  they launched the consultation.

[GM]

Probably long before our MP became vocal.

Maybe it was decided in a tombola style affair during one of the garden parties ?.

But I have a mental image of it being more pin the tail on the map as to where the funding goes.

[dr.chris]

The cynical side of me wonders if the decisions over the levelling up fund occurred before or after our MP became a critic of aspects of our government

[andrewbowden]

I read the statement again last night, and re-reading it one thing stood out to me in contrast to what has been taken by some people.  There's no indication that money is an issue - just that one source of funding was not successful.  Presumably money could be borrowed if needs be - which is what the council did with Merseryway - but they'd no doubt prefer it if they didn't have to borrow the full whack.

As a side note, Stockport has recently been investing in its leisure centres.  Avondale and Romiley have both had refurbishment work recently.  There's also a plan to add Life Leisure's facilities at Reddish Houldsworth Mill and Stockport Sports Village in Woodley to the council's portfolio.  They're directly owned by Stockport Sports Trust (who operate Life Leisure) unlike other centres that are owned by the council.  It was announced last year that due to Covid implications, the trust would be winding down, with everything moving to a new council owned company.  Presumably that means the council will be paying the Trust money for its assets.

Given all that I suspect money isn't a particular problem, and its just more that the council would rather not borrow the cash if it can get away with it.  Who could blame them for that?

[andrewbowden]

We shouldn't need to beg the government to pay for something the council should be able to afford.

I agree, totally.  But since 2010 central government has progressively slashed local authority grants, and now there are councils in this country struggling to even provide the services they have to legally provide.  Local councils are not awash with money.

I've said it before, even a temporary solution of a stainless steel liner would have kept costs down as a temporary measure and provided a income.

its been so long I've had to go back and refresh my memory on why the pool closed.  Two reasons were given.  1) pool fabric.  2) filtration.

A liner may help with 1, but not 2.  But how much would a liner cost?  Yes it would bring in an income, but would it make a profit?  What was Marple's finances like before it closed?  Marple was hardly the busiest leisure centre in the borough.  It was a pool with a tiny gym. The gym never seemed heavily used. 

How much income has been lost?  How many users were people like me, members, who have simply ended up using other facilities.  Some users will have been lost completely.  Some will have started using New Mills instead, taking their cash somewhere else.  But others will be going to Hazel Grove, to Romiley, or to Grand Central. It's quite possible that the amount of income lost by closure is lower than the costs of having Marple open in a holding state.  I'm sure someone will have done the finances.

(Lest anyone be in any doubt, I definitely want a new pool in Marple.  I go swimming four times a week and it's tedious going all over the borough to do it, driving past a completely empty facility in order to do so.)

[GM]

I'm hardly going to cut the council much slack, they seemed perfectly capable of spending lots of money during a pandemic to create a road scheme!.

We shouldn't need to beg the government to pay for something the council should be able to afford.

I've said it before, even a temporary solution of a stainless steel liner would have kept costs down as a temporary measure and provided a income.

[andrewbowden]

So, how did Tameside build so many so quickly ?.

Tameside Wellness Centre wasn't that quick.  Announced in 2016, opened minutes before lockdown in 2020.
Then there was the new pool at Active Hyde.  Announced at the same time, opened summer of 2021.  Took five years.  And both of those were part of a plan that had already been worked up.  Tameside announced in 2016 a leisure strategy that involved closing facilities and opening new ones.  Things were in motion.  I have no idea how long they'd been developing that strategy but it would have been a while.  From end to end, TWC and Hyde would have taken longer than four and five years respectively.

Marple's a different scenario.  There was no strategy.   No one was expecting to have to abruptly close and replace the pool.  It had only just had a new boiler installed.  They've had to come up with a strategy from scratch.  That takes time.  At the same time we've had lockdowns.  We've now got a government that's basically trying not to spend anything whilst lots of councils are desperate for more cash.  We've got an MP who is definitely not the Prime Minister's best friend.  We've got a leisure centre provider that's having to wind down its operations and pass them back to the council as they couldn't afford to keep going on.  Tameside got its funding pre-pandemic after all.

Now I don't have a clue what's going on in the council.  I don't know if they're doing a good job on this or a bad one.  But I do think it's hard to compare what Tameside did to what's happening here before, because they're not like for like.

[GM]

So to save everyone time reading the council waffle.

You want a pool but we can't find the money right now as we've tried getting funds from a government scheme and they said no.

So, how did Tameside build so many so quickly ?.