CHARD'S new swimming pool may not open until March 2022 after “bad weather” and a positive coronavirus case delayed construction.

South Somerset District Council is delivering a new swimming pool and leisure centre on the former ACI site off Silver Street as the first phase of its £3million flagship Chard regeneration scheme.

The new facility was due to be completed and open to the public by the end of 2021, with the building now being clearly visible from the Boden Street car park in the town centre.

But the council has now revealed that the facility will not be open for swimming or other exercise until March – and that changes could be made to ensure more car parking near the site.

An update on the Chard regeneration scheme came before a virtual meeting of the council’s area west committee on Wednesday evening (March 17).

Dan Bennett, the council’s property and development project manager, said: “We’ve had some pretty bad weather on-site, and have had to deal with the wider restrictions around covid, but we’re still making really good progress on the site.

“To date, we’ve had one case of Covid – it didn’t occur on site, but it occurred in a contractor who was off-site and was due to come to the site.

“That held up some of the roofing work because it was a very specialist trade and we couldn’t replace him at short notice.

“The supply chain seems to be holding up well, and the contractors are working very hard to order materials early and then store them in and around the site for installation.”

Following the meeting, the council clarified that its new leisure provider would need a number of weeks after construction had finished to test the facility and train staff before it could be opened to the public.

A spokesman said: “So far, through the excellent project management and precautionary approach, we have been able to maintain a build very close to the schedule – which is remarkable given the challenges that we have faced with a worldwide pandemic.

“It is likely that the build will be complete in late-2021, but the centre itself won’t open until early-2022 as there is a period of set-up for the new provider, testing and staff training, for example.

“Our contractor Speller Metcalfe have done a great job of making the workplace safe and ordering materials early to mitigate the current supply chain issues the building sector is experiencing.

“The number of positive Covid-19 cases nationally remain high, so it’s always possible that key staff as we start to move towards internal works end up having to isolate, which could then cause a delay.”

The council announced in mid-February that Freedom Leisure would run the new pool as part of a 15-year contract, which will also see it managing the Wincanton Community Sports Centre along with Goldenstones Leisure Centre and the Westlands Sports and Fitness Centre in Yeovil.

As part of the original planning permission for the site, which was granted in September 2019, a building near the new pool (known as Building 11) would be retained and re-purposed.

However, this building could now be demolished to provide additional parking for the centre due to its poor condition and the failure to secure a new user.

Mr Bennett said the building could cost up to £800,000 to refurbish due to large quantities of arsenic in its walls, making demolition a far cheaper option.

He said in his written report: “This building was originally due to house the new public library, but following extensive discussions with Somerset County Council we were not able to progress this option.

“Alternative uses for the building were sought, but after advertising the building for ten months, we had received little interest from potential tenants or purchasers.

“The refurbishment costs of Building 11 are extremely high, as the building is in poor condition and the previous industrial use of the building has led to contamination of the internal walls and floors with arsenic.

“As the building is currently derelict, and it is located directly opposite the leisure centre main entrance, the Chard regeneration board was asked to consider various options for the building.

“The preferred option was to remove the building and provide additional car parking and public realm.

“We are currently investigating the viability of this option, but the potential removal of the building from the scheme will allow funds to be used to refurbish some of the more prominent historic buildings on-site.”