Campaigning clubs 'delighted' at plans to reopen Ponds Forge in Sheffield
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The council and Sheffield City Trust - which runs the venue - initially said it would be too expensive to reopen. A ‘best case scenario’ date for reopening was estimated to be April 2021.The U-turn follows a campaign by aquatics clubs, backed by The Star, who said they would not be able to survive without it – which would also have consequences for the city.Tom Owens, head coach at City of Sheffield Diving Club, said: “It feels like we now have three organisations all pushing in the same direction to get Ponds Forge reopened as quickly and safely as we can and that will be to the benefit of so many people in the city.“I think we are very proud of the way we have gone about this campaign, looking back at it now and feeling like we are actually going to reopen Ponds Forge. It’s not in exactly the way we asked for but the proposal and campaign acted as a catalyst to draw attention and focus to Ponds Forge. So I feel proud about that and humbled."The language in this report compared to the last report is so far removed, I think fair play to them. We needed to have a go at this but I was never sure what it would amount to and for it to amount to this is great. We're delighted."The council said will cost £1.6 million to reopen Ponds Forge next month, which is on top of £15 million already approved for SCT this financial year - which the council said was £10 million more than budgeted for.In a report, council officers said: “Following consideration...it was felt reopening Ponds Forge during 2020/21 would potentially help to restart the city centre economy, support students returning to the city, provide access for disability groups and other community users as well as a number of clubs and groups.”The council’s cabinet is set to approve the plans for Ponds Forge at a meeting next week.