Butlins ready to take the plunge on £20m new pool for Bognor Regis

A £20m swimming pool is being considered by Butlins to give Bognor Regis the best facilities along the south coast.

Bosses at the holiday company have begun to think about tearing down the unattractive leisure pool which dominates the skyline around the Gloucester Road entrance to their site.

In its place would be a pool double the size '“ and open to the public.

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This would provide an attraction for everyone around the Bognor area and for visitors.

It is also seen as complementing the planned watersports centre which Butlins is investigating in detail with the University of Chichester.

Butlins' resort director Jeremy Pardey said the new pool could be open in two years if the feasibility study showed it would be a success and the plans were approved.

"This is a really exciting time for us. We feel if we are going to engage with the seafront we have to do something quite different," he stated.

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"We are looking at two different projects at the moment. One is for a new hotel (reported in the Observer last month) and the other is for a new pool.

"It would be double the size of the pool we have now and it would not just be for our guests, but for the public as well," he said.

"It will be the best pool in the south of England '“ on Bognor seafront. That's what we are seeking at the moment.

"Having a new swimming pool which is more involved with the seafront fits in with the new cyclepath '“ and the planned fitness trail '“ and the health and wellbeing of our guests, which is becoming more and more important to them.

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"We feel the Bognor site offers good facilities, but we need to offer more to keep people healthy."

The existing leisure pool gained approval from Arun District Council in September 1986.

But its industrial-style building, topped off with a flume, provides a grey and uninspiring landscape for an important part of Bognor's eastern seafront.

The pool has room for 900 users. It has five different slides, a splash spacebowl which deposits users in a plunge pool from about 5ft, a jacuzzi, a wave pool, a river flowing through and a children's play area.

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Swimming is possible, but the pool is so crowded it can be difficult. The new pool would have a capacity of 1,500 people and set space for swimmers.

A detailed study about the new pool is being undertaken by a panel put together by Butlins. It will also involve representatives of Arun District Council and the University of Chichester.

Butlins' board has agreed to spend 250,000 on the study. It is likely to be six to eight months before it is known if the pool will go ahead.

Stan Jonas, the chairman of BRIghter Bognor residents' group, said: "We welcome the increased planned investment by Butlins. We are delighted by the news."

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