By Julian Whittle

Last updated at 14:44, Tuesday, 17 November 2009

A new swimming pool planned for the Sands Centre in Carlisle will be too small, says the city’s amateur swimming club.

How the Sands Centre could look

Carlisle City Council has announced a £14m revamp of the Sands in partnership with the University of Cumbria.

The scheme includes a 25m eight-lane pool to replace that at The Pools in James Street, as well as a small learner pool.

Now the City of Carlisle Amateur Swimming Club has written to mayor Bill Graham asking for a rethink.

The letter, from committee member Douglas Mullins, says: “This design will give no flexibility in use. A much better solution would be to build a 50m competitive pool with a moveable boom.”

This would allow public swimming in one half of the pool while club training took place in the other half.

His letter adds: “Clubs would pay for their swimmers to train in a first-class pool. This could include national and area squads.”

The main pool in James Street is 33m long. The nearest 50m pools are 100 miles away in Glasgow and Edinburgh.

But the club’s call for a 50m pool at the Sands is unlikely to get a sympathetic response from the city council. Council leader Mike Mitchelson told an executive meeting last month that it would be too expensive.

He said: “It would have cost an extra £16m and an extra £500,000 in subsidy.

“Even the Sports Council predicts that it would take a population of one million to support an Olympic-size pool.”

Mr Mullins’ letter complains that the club and other swimming groups were not invited to or even told about that meeting.

The swimming club is also concerned that the new pool will have only 150 seats for spectators. It argues that at least 250 are needed. And it says there must be enough pool-side space for competitive events.

The letter concludes: “This has the potential to be a first-class asset to the university, Carlisle, Cumbria and the surrounding area. Please let’s get it right.”

Speaking today, Mr Mitchelson said he welcomed the views of pool users. He added: “The plans fit in with the Amateur Swimming Association’s regional strategy but are still at very early stages of design.

“Carlisle Leisure [which operates the Sands] will be discussing the detail design of the proposals with the pools’ users and representative groups.

“However, we have to be realistic. A 50m pool will not form part of the overall scheme. There are logistical and financial constraints which cannot be overcome.”

The council agreed last week to release £150,000 to take forward the Sands scheme. It will also bring a bigger gym, a ‘school of sport’ for the university and a new sports hall freeing up the existing hall for shows and conferences.

The scheme is due for completion by autumn 2012.

First published at 11:37, Tuesday, 17 November 2009
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk