‘One of the hardest decisions we have made’: Building work will restart on revised plans for Kenilworth's swimming pools

Building work will start again on revised plans for Kenilworth's swimming pools - but councillors said it was one of the hardest decisions they have had to make.

The changes to the development in Abbey Fields have already led to a huge overspend which has attracted a lot of opposition.

But council leader Ian Davison said at last night's (Thursday's) Warwick District Council's cabinet meeting that continuing with the revised plans was the 'least worst option" - before the plans were unanimously approved.

The building work for the two new swimming pools were paused in the summer when workers discovered extensive medieval remains discovered on site - and revised plans were submitted so the remains would not be damaged.

But campaigners asked the council to reassess the plans and look for alternative sites, with costs continuing to escalate to what is predicted to be about £27million.

Speaking at the meeting, Kenilworth resident and owner of Kenilworth Books, Judy Brook, called for a full review of the plans. She said that there is no data on running costs or operation costs (the amount of money the council will have to pay the leisure firm Everyone Active) - and no data on other potential sites. She named Leyes Lane, where homes are being built, as a good potential alternative.

"Please stop, review and make sure you are fully informed before going ahead with the design to spend £27million of our money," she added.

Rod Jones said he was representing the 1,271 people who signed the petition to review the building works.

With spending increasing significantly over the last 12 months, he asked for councillors to take another look at the alternatives, adding: "The right decision is better than a quick decision."

Councillors said that other sites had been looked at when the plans were first put forward, and council leader Cllr Davison said a full review of the options would require a thorough opinion appraisal that would take a long time - and would mean starting the project, which was first put forward in 2015, from the beginning.

Cllr Andrew Day said that the process has been "a long journey" and there has been "extensive and diligent work assessing potential sites", adding that the public benefit of the facility for the whole of the district is what is crucial, especially in terms of providing benefits for profoundly disabled children.

Cllr Judy Felp said: "Cost is a concern but we are so far down the road that changing will cost as much starting anywhere else, if not more."

Cllr James Kennedy, who represents the Park Hill ward in Kenilworth, said that views across the town are more mixed and divided than the petition suggests - and it was pointed out that only 52.5 per cent of people who signed the petition lived in the Warwick district.

As resources portfolio holder, Cllr Jonathan Chilvers said the finances were something "we are taking very seriously".

"If we could save money on other sites that would be great - but that is far from the case," he added.

Addressing the points previously made about other places in the country building swimming pools at a much cheaper cost, he said each site has its own issues so they are not comparable - and Kenilworth's site has had to factor in huge rising costs for building works and the revisions due to the discovery of the medieval remains.

"We have to stare reality in the face - it is very unlikely that switching course to a theoretical alternative would save us money," said Cllr Chilvers.

Cllr Paul Wightman added: "I would urge caution to everybody who thinks there is a cheaper option down the road."

Cllr Chris King acknowledged the difficulties of the project, but added: "We have to take the courage of our convictions. We have investigated as much as we can and taken advice on board from all the elements. We have a really difficult and tricky decision but our residents need us to carry on with this."

The revised plans were unanimously approved by the cabinet. The matter will now go in front of full council on November 15 where they are expected to be signed off.

The swimming pool plans had been discussed at the council's overview and scrutiny meeting on Tuesday night, where seven councillors supported the plans and three objected - but those who supported asked for three recommendations to be put forward to the council's cabinet. They were for the council to review the environmental reduction measures, to carry out an independent review of the costs and for the cabinet to see previous reviews on other potential sites.

After the cabinet meeting, Kenilworth campaign group Get it Done Right Group said that it was very disappointing to hear quotes by councillors such as "we wish we could have done better" and "it is unfortunate we had to go with the least worst option".

They added: "Warwick district councillors and full time staff could well have achieved the "best", certainly avoiding the "least worst" if they had listened and taken on board the advice and guidance of specialists in Passivhaus technology (energy efficiency) and from those who had vast experience in managing government projects.

"They didn't and the big opportunity for Kenilworth has been missed with a resulting spend of £27 million and rising, to be paid by generations to come.”

The project was initially set to cost an estimated £14.7 million but with the changes - which include raising the building’s foundations to protect the medieval remains - it could now rise to up to £22.6 million.

The leisure facility includes a main 25-metre swimming pool, a sun terrace, a second 15-metre indoor family pool and a café and reception.