Penketh Pool Refurbishment - Update

As we near completion of the Refurbishment works of Penketh Pool, I wanted to say thank you to all of the hard working Parish Councillors who have soldiered on through much adversity, full time jobs, careers and family commitments, yet still achieving something amazing for our local community.

One thing that's sadly been highlighted following the recent hot weather is how important Swimming is as a life skill, we've heard of far too many tragedies in open water again, and this is something especially close to many of our hearts here at Penketh Parish Council. Throughout local campaigning and speaking to residents, I'm still amazed by how many people can't actually swim. That's why we want to not only provide the vital life skills of swimming to our younger generations, but also build the community, social and wellbeing aspect for our older generation.

We'll be releasing our revised timetable shortly and would welcome feedback from the community. As ever its will be difficult to accommodate every individual wish but we aim to be as inclusive as possible, whilst quite rightly maximising the profitability of the pool to minimise impact to the Penketh precept (the surcharge of our council tax which funds PPC)

Every effort will be made to re-instate our former swim scheme members first, before opening up a larger number of slots to the wider public and to new members who have reached teaching age whilst we have been closed. Please be mindful though, that some of our time is taken up by private hirers and clubs, and they will be in touch with you separately and may have their own challenges in returning after such a long period of time.

I look forward to welcoming you all back soon, you will notice some changes, and likely be able to suggest further improvements to come but we'll endeavour to consult with you wherever possible, Once again thanks for your patience and kind messages of support.

Below you'll find the latest statement from Cllr Kieran Layfield, Chair of the Business Management Committee

Kind Regards,

Cllr Michael Potts

Chairman Penketh Parish Council.

Swimming Pool Update – Cllr K Layfield
13/06/22- Statement on works to the pool- openness and transparency

There have recently been some public allegations and untruths raised regarding the works to the pool,
particularly on the matters of costs, openness & transparency. This statement is in response to these.
As is well known, the pool has been neglected for a large number of years. The facility was initially shut at
the start of the covid-19 pandemic (March 2020). Whilst the hall has reopened for use, the pool has
remained closed due to several issues including a failed filtration system, leaking pipework and cracking of
the pool walls.

In 2021 the recently elected parish councillors commissioned an optioneering review to determine the long-term future of the building and its use in the community. This exercise looked at several possible high-level options ranging from doing nothing, refurbishment / remodelling through to demolition and new build. The intention of the study was to review these options and decide which should be developed further with possible input from external consultants and contractors. These options (10 in total) were costed for by an external professional cost consultant. The options were presented and discussed at several public full council meetings between October 2021
and February 2022. In parallel a business plan was produced and issued to all councillors in December 2021. Following input from councillors, the business plan was presented for approval at the February 2022 public full council meeting. The options study report (including costs) and business plan are both available to view on the parish council website. At this meeting it was agreed (with no votes against) to approve the business plan and proceed with a phased approach for refurbishing the facility, effectively starting with the pool, and appointment of a specialist pool contractor. This would cover options 4-6 and give time to develop options for the refurbishment / redevelopment of the changing rooms at a later date.

The estimated cost of Phase 1 of the works (effectively Option 3) was initially priced at £384,174 including VAT, although it was acknowledged that a significant amount of savings could be made against this figure. For the annual parish council budget, a capital spend of £129k was agreed with a £50k allowance made against possible loan repayments, if a loan was needed in the future. It should be noted that this budget was agreed by all councillors with no votes against. We have to date committed to spend £100,500 (inclusive of some of the survey works undertaken in the previous financial year). There are a number of further items needing to be purchased and installed ahead of reopening (including lighting, disabled hoist, and a new pool cover) which, based on current quotes, is under our £28,500 budget limit.

The parish council press release in March 2022 referred to figure of £80k. This figure referred to the work being undertaken by the appointed specialist pool contractor and this element remains under budget (although it is acknowledged that they may undertake some of the other items noted above, if they are found to be best value)

Future phases have not been decided beyond appointing an architect to develop some proposals for the redevelopment of the changing rooms. It is our intention to present these for public review ahead of any decision to proceed (or not) with them. Whilst there will always be commercially sensitive information that we are unable to share in Part 1 of the public meetings (such as when discussing quotes and cost estimates of individual items) we always strive to be as open and transparent as possible. As chair of the business management committee, I would be more than happy to sit down face to face with any member of the public and run through the costs and decisions made to date.