Outdoor paddling pool in Warwick set for overhaul now funding is secured

The pool in St Nicholas Park, Warwick, was deemed “unfit for purpose and increasingly liable to failure” in reports by Warwick District Council with patch-up work completed so it could open this summer.

Then, in early August the council also closed the pool for a few days so that “urgent repairs needed to the surface” could be done.

The assessment was completed alongside similar provision in Victoria Park in Leamington, which has remained closed this summer pending its full refurbishment.

Work behind the scenes has continued with council officers – the professionals employed by the authority – now in a position to bring forward permanent solutions for both over the autumn with a “tight” target date for reopening in time for summer 2025.

The biggest stumbling block in Warwick was financial but the council has secured £50,000 from King Henry VIII Endowed Trust – a long-established local charity that awards discretionary grants to benefit people from the old borough of Warwick – alongside receiving £786,000 in section 106 money, funding from developers collected through the planning process.

That money is added to already available section 106 funding, meaning the council has up to £891,000 available for open space provision in the area, including but not necessarily restricted to the work at St Nicholas Park.

With funding already secured for the work at Victoria Park, the district council’s cabinet – the panel made up of Green Party and Labour councillors in charge of major service areas – is being asked to approve the commencement of works, including procurement of contractors and the seeking of relevant permissions, for both sites to be done at the same time, saving time, effort and money.

The alternative of waiting an extra year to do the work in Warwick is covered in the council’s report but that would lose the potential benefits of bringing the two projects into one and risk the loss of the £50,000 grant.

The report adds: “Another option available, albeit contrary to the previous cabinet decision in February 2024, would be to limit the repair of the paddling pool and patch it up.

“However, the problems would remain and become increasingly difficult to manage and maintain.

“The maintenance of St Nicholas paddling pool is a significant cost to the council on an annual basis and the cost of the additional repairs on top of the annual maintenance cost is increasingly prohibitive.

“The previous cabinet decision set out an intention to refurbish the paddling pool once funding is found given these issues, and the reasons for remaining consistent with this approach remain.”

Councillors are now set to discuss and decide how to proceed at a meeting of the council’s cabinet, which will be held at Shire Hall in Warwick, next week on Wednesday night (September 4) at 6pm.

For more information about the paddling pool in St Nicholas Park in Warwick go to: https://www.warwickdc.gov.uk/info/20311/major_parks/501/st_nicholas_park