Council in the swim as it bucks national trend

In the same week that Olympic swimming medallist Duncan Goodhew called for an end to the closure of swimming pools, Herefordshire Council announced the official opening of its new £2.5 million pool.

The official opening of the new state-of-the-art pool, located in the north of the county in Leominster, is to take place on Saturday, January 14.

The new facility boasts a modern changing village, hoist which allows people with disabilities to enjoy a swim, and it does away with chlorine to keep the water clean.

“The community of north Herefordshire really wanted this poll and already we have 500 children under ten booked up to learn to swim,” said Cllr Roger Phillips, Leader of Herefordshire Council.

“The new pool incorporates the latest ultraviolet screening of water to ensure it is clean without the chlorine,” he added.

Herefordshire Council has put £2.5 million into the project, with the local community fund-raising to the tune of £250,000 to ensure the new venue includes a learner pool.

“It was interesting to hear Duncan Goodhew highlight the problem with the number of pools closing, particularly in the rural areas of the country,” said Cllr Phillips.

“Here in Herefordshire we decided a new pool would be built soon after an old swimming pool near the site of the new pool had to be closed on health and safety grounds about four years ago.

“We spoke to Sport England but they were not supportive of the venture so we realised that if this facility was to be provided we’d have to go it alone without them.

“They then followed this up by opposing our planning application for the new pool,” added Cllr Phillips.

While the official opening takes place at 1pm on Saturday, January 14, the pool opened to its first swimmers on Wednesday morning this week (Jan 4), and has already had hundreds of satisfied swimmers through its doors.