A £5,000 feasibility study is to be conducted over the future of Congleton’s much-loved paddling pool.
One of the options is to convert the Park Road attraction to a splash pad. That would mean removing the pool and instead using nozzles that would spray water from the ground. Another option could be to relocate it to nearby Congleton Park.
The move has been suggested due to “significant” operating costs because of the paddling pool’s continued popularity each summer.
Parking is a problem for visitors as well as for Park Road residents, access to the paddling pool needs to be controlled and there are ongoing maintenance costs.
Congleton Town Council, which operates the swimming pool, has been looking at the facility’s future for several years and has contacted other local authorities who have replaced theirs with “modern” splash pads, including Great Yarmouth borough council.
The east coast authority reported that the change had made a financial saving on operating costs but also created a safer, more “environmentally-friendly water facility”.
A report to Thursday’s meeting of the town council’s Finance and Policy Committee explained that a local company with more than 50 years’ experience in process engineering design had been approached to provide details into the feasibility of improving/relocating the paddling pool. It specialised in the design of aquatic leisure applications including swimming pools, water features, aquatic leisure facilities and plant.
Initial discussion indicated that a number of options were available, which include a redesign of the existing paddling pool, reuse of some equipment and relocation or a completely new facility, such as a splash pad on a new site, possibly Congleton Park nearby.
The fee for a feasibility study would be at least £5,000.
The decision requested was for town councillors to receive the report and for the committee to agree to the proposed expenditure and route to appointing a suitable company to undertake the study.
(Photo: Great Yarmouth borough council).
