The decision on what to do next with the paused Abbey Fields swimming pool project will not be mine but that of Warwick District Council, but there are essentially 3 options:
- Continue with the existing project on the existing site, at increased cost because of the archaeological finds beneath the old pool;
- Build a new swimming pool on a different site in Kenilworth instead; or
- Stop this project and build no replacement, leaving Kenilworth with no swimming facilities.
Of the 3 options, I believe the third would be unacceptable. A town of Kenilworth’s size should have a pool and it has had one for decades up to now. The population of the town is increasing not decreasing, so there would be no justification for less provision than we have now. I am open to either of the remaining options, but I think it is important to understand the benefits and risks of each. I have discussed them in some detail with the project manager at Warwick District Council (WDC) and [as you know] attended the helpful public meeting organised by WDC and Kenilworth Town Council on 27th September. I am not of course privy to any further confidential briefing which may be given to Councillors who must take the final decision.
First of all, the increased cost involved in proceeding on the current site comes from seeking to preserve our history, of which we should be proud. Inconvenient (and expensive) though it is, avoiding damage to the medieval ruins discovered under the old pool when it was demolished is the right thing to do. Incidentally, I do not think it was unreasonable for those planning this project to have assumed that, if there were preservable ruins on site, they would have been discovered when previous pools on the site were constructed. I do not believe this was a scenario which the project managers could and should have anticipated and planned for. I have seen the ruins for myself and they are impressive, but it is clear that there is no available option to leave them on display. Even if no building were constructed on the Abbey Fields site, the expert view of Historic England is that the ruins must be re-buried anyway in order to preserve them. For completeness, I understand that any form of glass floor in a subsequent building to allow the ruins to be viewed is also, in their view, infeasible without risking damage. Historic England in also clear, however, that it is possible to build the intended new swimming pool over the ruins without causing damage to them, though this will, as we know, incur additional cost.
It does seem to me to be right for WDC to consider alternative sites in Kenilworth at this stage, and I understand that this will now be done in order to inform Councillors’ decisions on whether to proceed on the existing site. I have not seen (and may not see) the conclusions of those investigations, but the cost of an alternative site (the Leyes Lane site of the former Kenilworth School for example – where the current assumption of income paid by housing developers for it has been accounted for in the delivery of broader plans for the District) or its practicality are obvious considerations. The fact that the current site has planning permission for a pool which has already been designed is another. There is a trade-off here between the attraction of thinking afresh about the location and design of the pool on the one hand and the inevitable delay in the return of swimming facilities to the town on the other if we go back to square one on design and location – probably by more than a year. I am very conscious that for some of those I represent, the need to travel out of town to swim is more than an inconvenience.
I am also strongly of the view that the current proposed design would provide a hugely improved facility, with 2 pools to cater more people swimming and with adaptations for the young and those with disabilities which could be life-changing. Frankly, the risk of starting this process all over again at a time of high inflation and stretched Council budgets is that Councillors decide that, even if Kenilworth gets a new pool, it won’t be as good a facility as the one we are currently expecting to get.
I understand the enthusiasm there is for outdoor swimming, but my view remains that financial reality dictates we cannot have everything, and the priority in our climate must be for indoor facilities that can be used by all for all of the year, particularly our children learning to swim. I do not therefore think it can be right to prioritise an outdoor pool over the current design.
As I say, the decision on the pool is not mine to make, but it is a hugely important decision for Kenilworth and I will do all I can to ensure that, whether they are built on Abbey Fields or elsewhere, there are new swimming facilities in the town which the whole population can enjoy.
