I read with interest your front page story regarding a potential “planned overhaul of the leisure facilities ie the swimming pool and the Castle Sports Complex”.
Having discussed this at length with friends recently, can I put forward a few suggestions?
Firstly – and controversially to residents who live in Spalding – move the whole complex out of town.
As with almost everything with South Holland District Council, it is very Spalding-centric and if you do not live Spalding then it is inconvenient to get to and virtually impossible to park.
If you are attending one of the classes (day or evening) then often the car parking spaces are taken up by clubs (eg the bowls team) meeting up, leaving their cars and going off in one car to play elsewhere.
Some of the classes are popular or run at the same time as other events so that the car park is full.
It is certainly dangerous to park there and walk through – though I accept this is not down to 1Life, more the individual drivers.
Spalding people might be thinking “well why drive there then?” but living in Moulton Chapel and before that in Whaplode, and with two children, I have no other choice.
At the Castle, the facilities are tired, unsavoury and unsanitary.
The reception is unwelcome, particularly when you have children with you.
The changing rooms are unclean, the sinks and showers are often not working properly and the toilets – well the less said the better – other than there are insufficient numbers of them and they are disgusting.
The bike track is unusual and the last time I was at the track there was dog excrement and possibly human excrement too, certainly dirty nappies.
The swimming pool is cold, unhygienic, unclean and full of hairs.
The toilets are appalling and often overflowing and the sauna smells of urine.
The diving pool was decommissioned and the learner pool has not actually been open for ages.
Small children are not all confident in the shallow end of the main pool and adult learners who may not be confident are not really catered for either.
There are really just competitive lap swimmers or gentle chatting swimmers but not really any mid-option.
Almost everyone I know – with children or without – have chosen to swim elsewhere be it Bourne, Sleaford or the more niche market places of Tydd St Giles or Woodhouse Farm Lodge.
I fully accept that it was state of the art when it was built, but this is over 30 years ago and times/tastes/fitness views etc have changed along with effectively the entire leisure industry.
The cost of maintenance alone must be prohibitive and as time goes on, and the facilities deteriorate further, this will only get worse and more expensive.
So I propose a radical suggestion: sell off the current site for building.
There is a housing shortage in South Holland, particularly of affordable homes, and this would make the ideal site for starter homes or apartments.
The central location should cut down on traffic and parking, although in truth this couldn’t be any worse than under its current usage.
It is apparent that the sites needing developing into affordable housing – the sorting office, the Bull and Monkie pub, the old hospital and nurses’ accommodation are not likely to be developed any time soon while the need for these grows.
Use the money from sale of the pool and Castle site to purchase and build a new purpose built – and fit for purpose – sports complex.
Perhaps the ideal site for this would be near the Spalding Gateway/Apple Green area?
Or even the site of the old hospital on Roman Bank – accepting that this may now be too late as Lidl wants it.
There are a number of sites that would be suitable and, as I am sure SHDC are aware, there would be grant funding available.
How about a community buy-in idea. People put money into “buying a brick” in a community centre in times gone by and while this would not raise masses of funds, it would encourage “ownership of the facilities” and “buy-in”.
Ideally we would need a pool, gym, exercise room/sports hall, track outside and indoor courts etc – perhaps even a spa area?
It can not be beyond the realms of reason – or finance with enough care and thought – to make a lasting centre that Spalding would be known for.
Emma McKenna
Moulton Chapel
