TWO rival community groups wanting to develop a public swimming pool in Minehead could be merged, town councillors have been told.
Directors of Minehead Health and Wellbeing (MHW), a community interest company formed in November of last year, told councillors they were planning to meet in the next few weeks with Minehead Swimming and Leisure (MSL).
They said a potential merger into a single group would be discussed.
MHW, led by former district council chief executive and local sportsman Bruce Lang, presented its vision for a community swimming pool and gym on the Irnham Recreation Ground on the site of a former football club grandstand.
It said it had ‘pre-planning approval’ for the centrally located, publicly owned site, which was one of the reasons behind Somerset Council agreeing to devolve ownership of the Alexandra Road car park to the town council.
MHW’s proposal included a modern, indoor four-lane 25 metre pool with a retractable roof, with integrated gym facilities, and would use modular building techniques.
Councillors were told the project aimed to complement, rather than compete with, existing services in the town.
Louisa Skinner, manager of The Beach Wellness gym in the Beach Hotel, Minehead, reported a 250 per cent increase in ‘health referrals’ since the Covid pandemic.
Ms Skinner said her team provided physical activity on referral services and specialised classes which were otherwise only available in towns such as Bridgwater and Taunton.
She said the gym’s current premises, which opened in 2016, were no longer adequate for the growing demand in Minehead.
MHW director Colin Christmas, a former West Somerset district council swimming development officer, outlined the swimming needs of people in the local area.
Mr Christmas pointed to the large waiting list of Minehead Swimming Club, which had 150 active open water swimmers, and 300 to 400 child members.
He emphasised the importance of water safety skills for residents living in a coastal community.
Councillors raised questions around job creation, swimming coach recruitment with a mixture of paid and volunteer coaches, the need for ground surveys, which they were told would be carried out in due course, the modular building approach, a sustainable business model, and potential collaboration with other local swimming pool groups.
MSL, which was formed in 2020 as a community benefit society and is run as a co-operative, also plans to build a full size heated indoor public swimming pool in Minehead and has identified two potential sites.
Last month ,it announced the award of a £6,000 Reach Fund grant to be used to develop a business case to make it ‘investment ready’.
MSL said it was planning later in the year to launch a pioneer share offer to help unlock future funding rounds.
Shares in MSL can be bought for £1 and give members a vote on any decisions which are made.
Minehead has been without a public swimming pool since the former district council-owned Aquasplash facility closed in 2007 and was demolished the following year.
A Lidl supermarket now occupies the former Aquasplash site off Seaward Way.