A former public swimming pool site in Tewkesbury which is covered in weeds and has not been used for eight years has been branded a ‘total disgrace’. What used to be Cascades in Spring Gardens has been a sad sight since Tewkesbury Borough Council demolished it in 2016 because it wanted to open a new leisure centre next to its headquarters in Gloucester Road.
The authority has previously been urged by residents to make use of the prime town centre land, which it owns, but still nothing has happened to it. Resident and former town mayor John Badham is one of those people who believe it is high time the situation was sorted out for the benefit of Tewkesbury.
In a comment on social media, he described it as a “total disgrace” and said it added to public concern over other decaying areas of the town which desperately needed attention. He said: “If you add the scandal that is Healing’s Mill and the derelict Quay Street, it is even worse.
“Can you imagine that this would happen in places like Chipping Campden or Broadway? It wouldn’t even be acceptable in Winchcombe or Bishop’s Cleeve.
“Thus we are marked out as the poor relatives. The paupers of the borough.”
Other people commenting on the matter on social media were also disappointed with the state of the site, calling it an “eyesore”.
Several residents felt it was a missed opportunity to have something that the town needed, such as a large supermarket, a multi-storey car park or an all-year-round covered market.
In response to being asked why it was taking so long to decide what to do with the site, the borough council said in a short statement: “The authority has conducted an in-depth feasibility study of the site and the wider town centre regeneration.”
In terms of what its plans for the land were, it added: “It has been identified as a site for car parking and residential development.”
The council gave no indication as to when development of the site might finally happen.