St Helens Council rules out re-opening pool at Sutton Leisure Centre

Councillors agreed to close the pool at Sutton Leisure Centre in 2013, saying it would save the authority £180,000 a year.

The decision faced fierce opposition at the time from the public, with 1,142 people signing a petition calling on the council to keep the facility open.

Since October of this year, the main pool at Parr Swimming and Fitness Centre has been closed for ceiling works.

And in November a decision was taken to temporarily close the learner pool due to safety concerns.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service can reveal the feasibility of re-opening the pool at Sutton Leisure Centre has been explored in light of the situation in Parr.

However, the council said it decided against doing this due to the length of time it would take to bring the pool up to standard.

A St Helens Council spokesman said: “The feasibility of bringing the pool back into use at Sutton has been considered – however the time it would take to bring it back to meet the required standards would likely take longer than it would to repair the ceiling at Parr Swimming & Fitness Centre, which has a far greater capacity.

“We apologise for any inconvenience caused and will look to open both pools at Parr Swimming & Fitness Centre as soon as possible.

“In the meantime, members of the public wanting to use public swimming pool facilities in the borough can do so by visiting Queens Park Health & Fitness, and Newton-le-Willows Health and Fitness.”

Over the years there has been various discussions about improving swimming facilities in the borough, particularly for serious swimmers.

In 2004, as St Helens Council drew up plans to demolish Boundary Road baths to make way for the £4m Queens Park Health and Fitness Centre, a meeting was held between the council and local swimming clubs to outline the plan for the pools in the area.

Joe Coy, a veteran long-distance swimmer, was at this meeting and said he suggested the council build a spectator area at Sutton Leisure Centre.

He said the venue could be used to host two competitions a year, with the profits split between the clubs and the council.

Joe Coy

“I may as well have spoken to a brick wall,” Joe said.

“We then moved forward to the period of re-building Queens and the closing of Sutton, which we were told was only being ‘mothballed temporary and could be opened up anytime in the future’.

“Why can’t it be re-opened now?”

Some years later, Joe said he suggested the council work with Saints when its new stadium was still in the planning stage to build a competition pool within the complex, in a similar mould to Leigh Sports Village.

But he said this also fell on deaf ears.

Joe said the pool at Queens Park, which opened in 2010, is only fit for recreational swimmers.

He added that the former Selwyn Jones Sports Centre, now called Newton-le-Willows Health & Fitness following a £4.2m makeover, has “less spectator seats than my living room”.

Currently, Joe swims in Widnes, as does St Helens Swimming Club.

St Helens has produced numerous county, regional and national champions, as well as many international swimmers and World Record Holders.

Joe himself has a number of accolades.

“For a town the size of St Helens not to have a competition standard swimming facility is a disgrace,” Joe said.

“Wigan, Leigh, Widnes and Huyton have one, while Warrington has two or three.”

Joe said the current problems at Parr stem from its age, and believes the council need to invest in a new facility.

Joe said: “Parr was built in 1973 and is well past it’s shelf life. The present problem is not the first problem in the last few years.

“The roof over the small pool has had problems.

“We need a new facility altogether.”