Plans submitted for Olympic-size swimming pool

Plans have been submitted to build a new Olympic-sized swimming pool in the heart of Coventry but the move will mean rugby club Wasps having to relocate a proposed training academy.

If successful, the application would see the 50-metre pool built at the Alan Higgs Centre, off Allard Way.

It would be created on the site of the current indoor pitch, which is proposed to be replaced elsewhere on the site as part of the application.

The new indoor pitch would be ready for community use in September 2018 with the pool anticipated to be open to the public in summer 2019.

The application has been submitted by Coventry And Warwickshire Award Trust (CAWAT), which owns the Alan Higgs Centre.

The new facilities would continue to be managed by Coventry Sports Foundation, with Wasps agreeing to relocate its proposed training academy (below) elsewhere in the local area.

Paul Breed, chief executive of Coventry Sports Foundation, said: “It has been a lot of hard work but it is great to finally get the application in as we are committed to providing top quality community facilities similar to those at our other centres – Centre AT7 and the Xcel Leisure Centre.

“As well as a new state-of-the-art 50-metre swimming pool, we are re-providing the indoor pitch meaning that the extensive community use of this facility will not be lost as a result of the swimming pool development.”

Cllr Kamran Caan, Coventry’s cabinet member for public health and sport, said: “It is well known that we have given a commitment to look for an alternative to the existing, and ageing, 50-metre pool at Fairfax Street which is no longer fit-for-purpose and loses significant money in annual subsidy – money we would rather invest each year in other services.

“Working with partners, we are now a step closer in helping to deliver a state-of-the-art, 50-metre swimming pool that will benefit the city and beyond and is in line with my commitment to support a more active city.”

Wasps chief executive Nick Eastwood said: “Unfortunately it has not proved possible to coordinate our own plans with the time frame needed for the construction of the pool and related complex, and we do not want to hold up the wider development in any way.

“A number of separate sites have been identified as providing viable options for our training ground needs, including what is currently our preferred site. Those avenues are being actively pursued and are in an advanced stage of discussion.”

How the Wasps training academy would have looked

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