Settle Area Swimming Pool

Statement from Settle Area Swimming Pool Trustees March 2021...

Following Craven District Council’s confirmation of its decision to grant £150,000 towards Settle Area Swimming Pool’s proposed extension to create a health and wellbeing hub, together with a further £135,000 underwriting income generation and funding bids, the pool trustees are now in a position to prepare tender documents for the building project.

We have only reached this stage thanks to generous support of the local community over many years. But as Craven pointed out in agreeing to our grant, the margins on the £650,000 project are tight and we will need to continue and intensify our fund-raising efforts over the coming months. There is a donation facility on the front page of this website.

It is notoriously difficult to set out a time line for building work, especially so now, when it is still unclear when Covid restrictions will be lifted completely, however we hope to be able to award contracts in May and begin building work soon after. If all goes well the project should be completed in early autumn.  We would hope to be able to set out a fuller timeline, including the period in which the pool will have to be closed later this spring.

The extension will include a new flexible dry-side area, suitable for health and wellbeing activities, including exercise classes and events. The changing facilities will be modernised, based on a cubicle and locker model – with additional facilities for families and disabled users. There will also be new shower and toilet facilities. The reception area will also be extended with catering and a viewing area.

An artist’s impression of building is on the website and we will shortly be uploading a video showing a scale model. The model itself (one fiftieth actual size) will be on display in the window of the charity shop on Duke Street in the centre of Settle from next week.

In other news, we hope to be able to re-open the pool once lockdown restrictions are eased. This is scheduled for April 12, but still subject to confirmation by the government. Once the position is clear booking will resume for the limited sessions, based on a similar timetable to that which operated last autumn.

On the same basis we hope to be able to re-open our charity shop on April 12 and resume taking donations at the container in the pool carpark soon thereafter. 

We will give further details as soon as these are available.

Many thanks for your continuing support for our community pool.

Pool Trustees

March 2021.

Great news from Craven District Council who have agreed to give generous financial support to the new project at the pool. Full details are on the Craven Herald website

Chair of Trustees Pat Taylor says "We are delighted that the council has agreed to support us. The trustees will be meeting soon to decide on the next steps to take the project forward. We shall share details with the public when they become clear."

Everyone associated with Settle Area Swimming Pool will be sad to learn of the recent death of Cllr Richard Welch. Richard was a strong supporter of the pool for many years.

Pat Taylor, Chair of Trustees says:

Richard was indeed a loyal supporter of the pool along with many other local causes. My first contact with him was calling into his shop to barter for bits of furniture but also to get his take on local affairs!

He has served as a trustee of both the pool itself and The Friends of Settle Swimming Pool. He would always speak up in support of the pool, whether on the county council, the district council or simply in conversation with residents and local businesses. He was a man of strong views, some of them undoubtedly controversial but no one could doubt his unshakeable commitment to this area and its people.

Jean Lonsdale, a leading online fundraiser for Settle Area Swimming Pool, has been sought out by Dales Radio and persuaded to share her thoughts. You can visit the podcast page and listen to the interview here.

Jean has been closely involved with the pool since it opened in the '70s. She shares her insights on the history of fund raising for the community pool, and the current position with the fund raising shop.