Costs to keep beloved King Edward's Swimming Pool open would top £1m, say 'saddened' councillors
“Total costs could be more than a million pound”
A beloved Sheffield swimming pool would need £1m to keep open, say a trio of “extremely disappointed” councillors.
King Edward’s Swimming Pool, on Clarkehouse Road, near Broomhall, shut in May over safety concerns, after a volunteer trust was unable to find funds for repairs and handed it back to Sheffield Council.
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However, the authority said it will not take over the facility and claims it does not have the money for repairs.
A petition by residents to save the pool accuses the council of neglecting to hold a consultation to find partners who could have kept it running.
Now, three ward councillors for Broomhill and Sharrow Vale say they are “extremely disappointed” in the closure - but supported the council’s claim there is no money to reopen it, and that running costs would in reality top £1m.
The joint statement by Green Party councillors Brian Holmshaw, Maleiki Haybe and Angela Argenzio reads: “Ward councillors for Broomhill and Sharrow Vale are extremely disappointed at the closure of King Edward’s Swimming Pool by the Trust.
“We are saddened on behalf of the residents of the immediate area, and locations nearby, who use the pool for their individual and family swims.
“Sheffield City Council Leisure services staff have been brought in to investigate whether the pool can be re-opened.
“Unfortunately, the evidence demonstrates that the facility would require significant immediate investment of around £200,000, wider building work and equipment estimated at between £600,000–£800,000 and an ongoing annual subsidy or management fee of around £200,000. So total costs could be more than a million pounds.
“None of these sums of money are available. Large leisure buildings such as this need years of forward investment planning, particularly in the present climate of government austerity.
“Councillors in the ward have pressed officers to take a city-wide approach to leisure investment and swimming provision, and that of course includes increasing swimming capacity in Broomhill and Sharrow Vale and neighbouring areas.
“The decision by the Trust to close the pool reduces the opportunity for all people to enjoy the water and to benefit from the healthy activity that swimming gives.”
Councillor Brian Holmshaw is also the chairman of the communities, parks and leisure policy committee.
He told a council meeting last month that taking on responsibility for the pool “would not represent a sustainable or strategic use of public resources”.
The pool dates backs to the 1930s and survived the second world war.
The petition criticises Sheffield Council for “not consulting residents and has said nothing about working to find partners to keep KES running.”
It reads: “...the pool has gone on to have decades of success even while relying on unpaid volunteers to run it and with scant support from SCC.
“SCC’s statement that ‘the decision to close the facility rests with the Trust’ is shirking responsibility for an active decision to strip the community of a vital asset with 90 years of service to boosting local health.”