'Leisure centre will be a county-wide asset'

A £28.8m extension to a leisure centre in Shropshire will "make it an asset for the whole county," the council said.

Plans for the Shrewsbury Sports Village includes building a 25m, eight-lane competition swimming pool with enough space for 500 spectators and competitors.

A number of residents had raised concerns during a consultation about the project bringing "investment in Shrewsbury and not elsewhere".

James Owen, the Liberal Democrat councillor in charge of leisure at Shropshire Council, said Shrewsbury "had been left behind" when compared to leisure facilities in other parts of the county.

The project also includes a 10m teaching pool with a moveable floor, new changing facilities, a children's play area, large gym and fitness studios.

"There's obviously a lack of investment in Shrewsbury [regarding leisure]," said Owen.

"And there's also a latent demand for a competition pool.

"If we were to put it in Ludlow then the north of the county would have to travel an hour to get there.

"Shrewsbury is the central point of our county and that's where it makes sense to have it," he added.

Shrewsbury's two council-run leisure centres, including the ageing Quarry Pool, which closed for 17 months in 2022 because of a leak, are failing to make a profit and are heavily subsidised by the authority.

The council hopes the number of fitness memberships at the sports village in Sundorne could increase by 260% to almost 3,000 residents – and with it, increase enough revenue to be "cost neutral".

Project manager Peter Gilbertson said the centre is currently only busy at weekends when football training and matches are held on the eight full-size pitches.

He said a competition pool and new gym would attract more users during the week.

"We're within a 20 minute drive time of around two-thirds of the population of the county," he said.

"Above the new competition pool we're going to be building a130 station gym.

"Yes, gyms are important for fitness, but it's also going to drive the financial stability of this facility," he added.

Concerns had been raised by some residents and councillors that a new competition pool would be built at the expense of the Quarry Pool in the town centre.

The council has not put forward a plan to close the pool but has warned that the building is "end of life" and not financially viable.

Council leaders are unsure how the authority will pay for the sports village transformation, but expects the bulk of the financing to be met by government borrowing.

Debt repayments would be taken from its capital budget, which is used for infrastructure spending, but interest costs would be deducted from its day-to-day account, which is where the authority is struggling to make ends meet.

Money levied on development, known as CIL (Community Infrastructure Levy), which the council can spend on assets such as schools or roads, may also be used to fund some of the project.

Planning permission for the sports village was granted by Shropshire Council in November and construction is expected to begin in May, subject to full council approval in February.

The council hopes to have the extension fully open by Christmas 2027.

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