Coventry City Council has approved plans for a new £37m swimming pool, water park and leisure centre in Coventry city centre, meaning the West Midlands' only 50m swimming pool will be forced to close.

Councillors decided to replace existing leisure facilities (including the 50m pool) at the ageing site on Fairfax Street, with the new city centre site featuring a cheaper-to-run 25m pool, water park with slides, fitness suite, climbing wall, squash courts and spa, as part of a wider sports strategy for the city.

Council planning officers said building a 50m pool, instead of a 25m pool with water park and leisure facilities, would not encourage enough visitors and families to the city and would cost an extra £5.5m over the 45 year period of financial modelling.

“Most people do accept that the current facilities in Fairfax Street are no longer fit for purpose – they cost Coventry taxpayers £2,000 a day to run,” said Cllr Kevin Maton.

“We understand the concerns of everyone who signed the petition calling for a 50m pool in Coventry. We looked very carefully to see whether this was a viable option in terms of affordability and sustainability. But we think our proposal to provide a 25m pool and water leisure park provides the best option for Coventry residents in terms of affordability and for making it as accessible for as many local people as possible to enjoy.”

More than 60 protesters gathered outside the council house on Tuesday as the council met to green light the plans.

Coventry Swimming Club programme manager and former Olympic swimmer Jo Deakins was one of the organisers of the protest, and she expressed dismay at the decision.

"It's not the outcome we wanted," she told the BBC.
"But the council said it had looked at all ways of keeping the pool open and has been unable to find a solution fair to taxpayers. We will regroup and try to work with the council to see how we can move things forward."

Work is due to begin to build the new facility in 2017, with a planned opening date of July 2019. Once open, the current pool at Fairfax Street would close.

Meanwhile, councillors agreed to work with Coventry Swimming Club to look into gaining a Sport England grant to maintain the Fairfax Street 50m pool.

Maton added: "It's not the case that the council's not interested in sport, because we're investing in new facilities all the time. The question is 'how can we afford to do it?'"