Over 1200 of us have already signed this petition calling for Warwick District Council to halt the current Abbey Fields Swimming Pools Leisure Project and carry out a full and thorough cross-party review of ALL other options. With estimated costs now escalating to around £22 million the existing plan no longer represents good value financially or environmentally and there is a growing feeling that Councillors must listen to the community who elected them. Despite this WDC Officers seem intent on pushing forward with this outdated and increasingly costly construction and it can sometimes be difficult to be sure of exactly what the true facts are.  At the Public Meeting on 27th September WDC Officer Paddy Herlihy stated that the current design included ALL  environmental considerations that had a payback of less than 15 years.  This would appear to be untrue if you look at comparable projects:

St Sidwell’s Point Leisure Centre in Exeter was designed and constructed to the Passivhaus Standard.  The view of the Designer is that, for a wet Leisure Centre, building to the Passivhaouse Standard is a ‘complete No Brainer’.  The savings are massive in operation cost terms and also a massive improvement to the environment in the building and the health of the public and staff

In relation to the Exeter Project the most significant fact is that the Payback for the Exeter scheme was based on 10 years which directly contradicts Paddy Herlihy’s statement.  

It is also worth remembering that:

Building to the Passivhaus Standrd refers to buildings created to rigorous energy efficient design standards

Their design is ‘Climate Ready’ - This includes overheating, flooding, shading etc.

Their design uses the Healthy Building approach including building biology. This is important for the comfort and health of users and staff.

There are 10s of wet Leisure Centres across the UK that are being deigned to the Passivhaus Standard right now!

There are at least two that are currently being built on site.

It would be easy to put the Officers from Exeter in contact with the appropriate people at WDC so that they can advise on costs and design we just need to convince WDC Councillors to listen to the community they represent and vote to halt and then review this project.

PLEASE KEEP DOING WHETEVER YOU CAN TO SHARE OUR PETITION AND CONTACT WDC COUNCILLORS TO MAKE YOUR VIEWS KNOWN.