Swimming pools should be a basic civic amenity, the leader of Lichfield District Council has said.
Cllr Doug Pullen made his comments after a BBC report revealed the scale of closures across the country.
The long-term future of public swimming facilities in the city has been a source of debate in recent years with the facility at Friary Grange Leisure Centre.
Plans have been put forward for a replacement at Stychbrook Park.
Cllr Pullen said the council had shown they were supportive of keeping facilities available for residents.
“Swimming pools should be a basic civic amenity in most areas across the country.
“While not easy, I’m glad that we’ve invested £700,000 into keeping Friary Grange Leisure Centre open and have clear plans for a new leisure centre in the north of Lichfield to complement our superb Burntwood site.”
Cllr Doug Pullen, Lichfield District Council
The council has put forward a bid to the Government Levelling Up Fund for more than £15.7million to help cover the costs of the new leisure centre at Stychbrook Park.
The proposed facility would feature a six-lane swimming pool with moveable floor, a community room, 80 station fitness suite, spin studio, EV charging points and cycle storage.
It needs to have a sports hall so racket sports can be played. Any decent leisure centre has a sports hall. If this isn’t going to have one then just don’t bother, there are other swimming facilities people can use, and football pitches everywhere. Definitely don’t need another one of those. The Council is obsessed with house-building and football pitches. That’s all I ever hear about.
The swimming areas should have more for kids too, not just a bland lane swimming pool. How about some water slides and areas where families can come and bring their children to play? There is nothing around here like that.
Right concept wrong location.. Friarsgate would be packed if you located it there
Amazing.
Few years back we had to sign a petition to keep Friary Leisure Centre and pool open. The Council wanted to close it.
Zoom forward a few years, now they have dissolved that responsibility to Freedom (they run the leisure Centres – and poorly in my opinion) how the message changes.
You can not avoid Doug that this Council has not invested in Leisure Services and Leisure Centres for decades. If they had, Friary wouldn’t have rotting steel columns and asbestos in the roof.
What a hypocrite. Nice sound bite for some vote wins though.
Perhaps Cllrs need reminding yet again to ask themselves what happened to the second pool campaign many years ago; then built at King Edwards for public use and then later closed? Lack of maintenance for current facilities will cause same issues for any new facility in following years and in the process LDC will devastate a green area of parkland whilst leaving Friarsgate (yes the whole area is suitable & plenty big enough incorporating a bus terminal) as a derelict mess. LDC has never looked after assets it has already in its possession. That list is plentiful!
Warning – election incoming! What a U turn!
From let’s announce we’ll close Friary Grange quietly late on a Friday evening to swimming pools are an essential part of the community
Only took a community effort, petition and media campaign for this to happen
And yet, where is the replacement centre? It’s going to be buried after the election in a failed funding bid to Boris’s levelling up pot of money
People keep saying the Friarsgate location but it really isnt practical. There’s a need to keep that area historical and conserved (hospital, st johns st buildings and garden). A modern leisure centre won’t complement that. The increased car congestion on to those roads wont work out well either.
@Ben, what, and yet more flats will preserve the history of the area? Or help with congestion? I think not. I’d rather a leisure centre here than more residential, which is strangling Lichfield in every direction you look.
If not a leisure centre, then an attractive green space/gardens would be welcome to off-set the constant building work in the city.
There’s room for three Burntwood sized indoor leisure centres on the Friarsgate site. It would be easy to design it to be in keeping with the look of the area with some green space around it and wouldn’t detract from nearby historical buildings.