Nine things we learnt on our tour of the new Chard leisure centre site

South Somerset District Council is constructing a new swimming pool and leisure centre on the former ACI complex off Silver Street as part of its flagship Chard regeneration scheme.

The council has committed £3M to the scheme, which will also aim to regenerate both Boden Mill and Holyrood Mill to provide housing and commercial space, as well as making improvements to the high street.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service was granted a tour of the Chard regeneration site on Wednesday afternoon (October 14) to see the construction work up-close.

Here are nine things we learned from our time on the building site:

1. The pool will still be finished by the end of 2021: the council stated in June that it intended to continue work on the Chard regeneration scheme in spite of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the working restrictions that have accompanied it. The council reaffirmed this on Wednesday (October 14), with around 40 people working safely on-site in line with government guidelines, with a targeted opening of autumn 2021 for the pool and leisure centre
2. The pool will be tested before Christmas – and then emptied again: work on the new pool is proceeding at great pace, with the changing rooms currently being constructed and the roof being moved into place. The actual “shell” of the pool (in which the water will sit) will be “cast by Christmas”, with the construction crew filling it with water to test its integrity. After this, the pool will be drained and dried out, with the actual water in which the public will swim being introduced a few weeks before the official opening date
3. There are five companies in the running to operate the facility: the district’s two existing swimming pools (in Yeovil and Wincanton) are currently operated on the council’s behalf by LED Leisure, which also runs pools in east Devon. The council is currently tendering for a new contract to run all three pools, with five companies have “expressed an interest” in running these three sites – though the council has not identified any of the potential operators, citing commercial sensitivity.
4. The council’s bailout of LED Leisure won’t affect their chances of running the new pool: like many leisure operators, LED Leisure has fallen on hard times as a result of the ongoing pandemic – resulting in the council agreeing an undisclosed bailout in early-September. The council has not confirmed whether LED Leisure is pushing for the new leisure contract, but said the bailout would not count against the company’s bid to run Chard’s new pool. The council is expected to make a final decision on the operator by Christmas
5. The new pool may be named after a local figure – or a local business: a campaign was launched in September 2019 to name the town’s new pool after John Farrant, who coached swimmers at the now-defunct Cresta Leisure Centre for more than two decades. Project manager Bennett said the council was considering this, along with the possibility of the centre being sponsored by local firms. He said: “We’ve spoken to a few local businesses, and we were hoping a local business might want to have some involvement in naming it, in terms of some sponsorship. But at the moment we haven’t secured anything, so the naming of the centre is still to be decided.”
6. Phase two of the regeneration won’t happen until the pool is finished: phase two of the council’s regeneration scheme centres around the conversion of Boden Mill and Holyrood Mill – with the former lying directly opposite the new leisure centre. Mr Bennett said: “I think running both projects concurrently would be incredibly difficult, given the limited site area. We will continue to work on plans for that area, but again we have to take account of what happens with covid.” He also warned the recent Dutch N legal case – involving development on the Somerset Levels – could “bring planning to a standstill” for a short time
7. The neighbours appear to be putting up with the disruption pretty well: Holly Terrace lies to the north of the regeneration site, and will eventually be only four metres from the new pool once the construction work is completed. Mr Bennett said the council had received very few complaints from the neighbours during the construction period, stating: “At the moment they’re living next door to a busy construction site, but previously they lived next door to a derelict factory. If I was in their shoes, I’d rather live next door to a leisure centre than a building that has an uncertain future, with people breaking in at night.”
8. Up to £2M will be spent on improving the high street – though some aspects will be delayed: the council successfully secured £1M from Historic England to improvements to the high street – and will be putting in £1M of its own money towards this. While some of the planned cultural events are on hold due to the coronavirus, Councillor Jason Baker said the other improvements would come forward shortly. He said: “One of the things we were really keen on is that this pool wouldn’t become a stand-alone project, and that it actually linked in with the whole town. We’re going to be working on different areas to improve the public realm – how it looks, how it feels – and have some good work on some of the listed buildings, so the whole town is going to have more of a buzz about it.”
9. The council intends for the entire project to make a profit: the council said the leisure centre had been “designed to run at a profit”, with the cafe, gym and soft play centre all intended to generate income which can be reinvested in local services. Mr Bennett said: “We didn’t want to create something which requires funding to keep it running; we want something that’s self-sustaining.”

Mr Baker, the portfolio holder for the regeneration scheme, said he was delighted with the progress which had been made to date.

He said: “It’s really good to see the progress that they’re making here on site. Seeing the roof going on shows the real structure and the shape of it – the fact is that we’re still moving head and making good progress.

“I’m fairly confident at the moment that we’re going to be ready for the end of 2021. As we stand here we’re on track, subject to further restrictions which we’ll have to work with as they come along.”

Mr Baker – whose Chard Holyrood ward includes the site – did not confirm whether the new facility could be opened in stages if the coronavirus caused further setbacks in the construction.

He said: “We’d have to look at where we were in the construction cycle and what was actually available to us, and make those decisions as it happens.”