Kenilworth swimming pool project would proceed at same site and with same design but at added cost

Kenilworth residents have been told that the project to build a new swimming pool facility in the town will cost considerably more than first planned but that its design and location would remain the same despite the discovery of extensive unrecorded medieval remains at the site.

A public meeting, hosted by Warwick District Council (WDC) and Kenilworth Town Council, was held at St Nicholas church and streamed live on the district council’s Youtube channel last night to update residents on the project in Abbey Fields, which has been halted due to the archaeological find.

Nigel Page of Archaeology Warwickshire gave a presentation about the ongoing excavations, which have unearthed the remains of several buildings.

He described the find as “very exciting” and said he is looking forward to providing more updates soon.

WDC officer Padraig Herlihy, who is leading the council’s project, also provided a report of the implications on the design, planning, cost and timeline of building the new facility - which will include two pools to replace the former swimming pool and lido at the site.

Mr Herlihy outlined the tasks the project team would carry out to avoid any additional delays unless a decision is taken to stop the project.

The foundation plans would be changed to raise them by 50cm and a change from the construction using ground bearing slabs to using suspended slabs will take the weight off the medieval remains.

Every location of each foundation pile will be agreed between WDC’s team and Historic England.

The drainage of the building will also be redesigned “to avoid any significant clashes with the remains”.

As a result, the team will soon submit a section 73 application for a material amendment to the existing planning permission for the project.

A public consultation and officers’ consideration will take place between October and December with WDC’s planning committee considering the application by January at the latest and any additional conditions being addressed by February.

Building work would restart by February or March and be completed by summer 2026.

Mr Herlihy said: “I’m aware there is unrest in the town with not much happening on the site but, as you can see, this is the reason why that inaction is happening and there is nothing we could have done about it.”

Mr Herlihy said all the main details of the design will remain the same as the original application - which includes a main 25-metre swimming pool with five lanes, a sun terrace, a second 15-metre indoor family pool to train younger swimmers and a café and reception.

The project was initially set to cost an estimated £14.7 million but with the changes it could now rise to up to £22.6 million.

Mr Herlihy pointed out that moving the project to a new site could make the overall cost £26.7 million – an increase of £12 million on the original estimate with a predicted completion time of spring 2028.

He said: “It was important that we looked at theoretical options for moving the site because if there was a £14-million site nearby waiting to go it would’ve been very remiss of us not to have done so.”