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"This is very painful and sad news for everyone who has striven for so long to secure the future of swimming in the town”. Cllr. Nick Ridley, Babergh District Council’s Strategy Committee Chairman was commenting on a report from engineers Scott, White & Hookins which has concluded that the structure of the Hadleigh pool tank is in such a bad shape that they would not recommend Babergh spending any significant money on it.
As a result of these findings, Babergh is advising a meeting of the Hadleigh Pool Steering Group scheduled for Wednesday December 12th that it would not be prudent to consider investing several million pounds in a refurbished facility. Instead, the Group is being urged to back proposals for investigations into a standalone community and leisure facility on a site adjacent to the present pool.
Babergh is also keen to both work with the many existing providers of community facilities to explore whether greater support for their work might address some of the challenges facing the town – and to seek the firm commitment of Hadleigh Town Council and others to financially support such schemes.
The Scott, White & Hookins report concluded that the main problem was with the state of the pool tank, which was poorly constructed.
The engineers report concluded that “we would not recommend committing any large investment which is dependent on the present pool tank’s continuing good performance, because there is a significant risk of future deterioration in its condition”.
Cllr. Ridley added that “in spite of this setback, we hope that the people of Hadleigh can see that there are still opportunities for a significant investment in leisure and community services in the town, but only if the political will is maintained and we all pull together”.
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