Exeter Swimming Club say new pool plans mean local economy missing out on £1m annually

With plans for a new swimming pool development on the current bus station site successfully being cleared through the second stage of council planning, you would think that Exeter City Swimming Club (ECSC) would be getting excited at the prospect of a new multi-million pound facility in the heart of Exeter getting one step closer to realisation, however, nothing could be further from the truth.

The club that trained and developed Olympic star and world champion Liam Tancock have highlighted multiple problems with the current plans and has repeatedly called for the development to be re-thought, proposing instead that a 50m swimming pool built at a re-developed Arena park would generate around £1 million in revenue to the local economy annually.

"As it stands, the current pool plans allow 100 seats for spectators. A typical competition meet that ECSC holds attracts around 300 - 400 swimmers from around the South West, plus their families. Basically put, 100 spectator seats means we will no longer be able to hold swim meets in Exeter," says Dean Pearce, club Chairman.

"ECSC already have issues holding meets in Exeter due to pool size and facilities. They currently hold five meets around the South West per year, with only two of them being able to be held in Exeter’s 25m Pyramids pool and the other three being held in Plymouth, Bristol and Cardiff taking advantage of their larger 50m pool and fantastic spacing for teams and spectators. Part of the redevelopment plans for the new bus station pool and gym complex is that Pyramids will be closed soon after completion and redeveloped for housing. This will mean that there will be nowhere in Exeter big enough to hold a swim meet.

"Research suggests that a typical swim meet equates to £100 being spent in the local area, per swimmer, per day. With the two annual swim meets that ECSC can currently hold each year, it means around £90,000 is generated for the local economy. Factor in that the other three meets having to be held in elsewhere, thats another £90,000 annually already being spent in other cities. However what is more alarming is the enormous potential revenue that the local economy is missing out on by not having a 50m swimming pool.

"Having a 50m pool in Exeter would change the landscape of competitive swimming in Devon overnight. Having to travel to Plymouth, which is on the very left edge of Devon, for every regional meet causes a lot of headaches for swimmers all over the county and Devon ASA (the governing body of swimming in Devon) receive many complaints, calling for more County regional meets to be held more centrally in Devon. If our city council changed tack, and developed a 50m pool at Arena park or another location in Exeter, we would almost instantly start holding 12 large events per year (1 a month) which would bring in around £1 Million to the local economy. There would also be huge demand for the 50m pool from other clubs in Devon wanting to hire it for their own events, instead of hiring out Plymouth."

Jo John, Head Coach of ECSC raises other concerns with the pool plans including the proposed 20m confidence pool (5 meters too short to be used for another event), lack of space for teams to gather around the pool during events and the large glass, south facing, atrium of the pool which would be similar in design to cardiff and swansea, whose pools are akin to standing in a sauna between the months of April and October.

ECSC also organise the annual Primary School swimming gala, attended by nearly 20 schools from across Exeter. The closure of Pyramids and the inadequate space at the new pool complex means this would not be able to continue, depriving hundreds of Exeter’s schoolchildren the opportunity to compete in a fun and exhilarating day of swimming and promote a great way of getting exercise.

Dean has sat in on numerous meetings with council representatives. "There doesnt appear to be anything in the plans we’ve seen to facilitate the use of swim timing systems, which of course are crucial to holding a competition. Also, one of the main issues that has so far been glossed over by the planners, is the fact that parking in the City centre is already sparse and very expensive. Factor in Christmas shopping between October and the middle of January and the chances of parking will be neigh-on impossible. Socio-economic groups that use leisure facilities don’t use busses. We understand that we are trying to change peoples habits but we already have many members saying that its cheaper for them to join some of the more expensive gyms/pools on the outskirts of the city than it would be to travel in to town on the bus with children on a weekly basis and pay whatever the membership will be."

ECSC have met several times with representatives from the Council planning committee but their concerns and offer of advice in making the facility more workable appear to fall on deaf ears each time.

Jo, who worked for the ASA (the governing swimming body in Britain) and with Plymouth City Council as a consultant on the design and construction of Plymouths aquatic centre is dismayed that the club, who regularly have swimmers competing and now winning at National championships have not been approached by the council in any capacity to help with planning the pool and avoiding pitfalls such as the issues raised by Jo and the rest of the club. The real loser in all this is the local economy. As a club we will still make money by holding our meets in other cities, however, the money that the competitors spend in and around the city over the weekends that the meets are held will obviously go to the local economy of those other cities. You only have to look at what the Exeter Cheifs have managed to do in the past 5 years. They focused on building great facilities first, then built on that. Now they are a national name and having Exeter being picked as a RWC host city is testament to that. They bring so much economic prosperity to the city now, we want to base our model on them'

World champion and Olympic star, Liam Tancock grew up in Exeter and joined ECSC at an early age, training and competing with the club until it was time to choose a University. The subject of Liam having to turn his back on his home town and former club still touches a nerve with the club. Jo explains the reasoning behind his decision. ‘Liam simply wanted to remain in Exeter, continue with his training and study at Exeter University, however, because Exeter doesnt have a 50m pool his hand was forced into looking elsewhere. He ended up choosing Loughborough University which boasts a 50m pool and great facilities for supporting talented, competitive swimmers. He then subsequently went on to become a world champion and swim in the Olympics. We have several swimmers in our club who are mirroring the success that Liam had when he was their age, and when it comes time for them to choose to further their career, they too will be in the same predicament’.