Northwich Town Council to consider Church Walk Paddling Pool charges

Back in January, Northwich Town Council proposed charging users of the Church Walk Paddling Pool, after the facilty was run at a £6,500 loss last summer.

At its next public meeting on Monday, April 4, councillors will discuss three potential options for the paddling pool going forwards.

Those options are:

• Charge £1 per person to all visitors to the pool, this will be non-refundable, and payment will be taken at the time of booking
• Only charge visitors who do not live in the Northwich parish, this will be complicated and difficult manage
• Due to an overall increase in the cost of living to residents, defer any decision this year and look again next year when they have full costs of one year's opening using the booking system

Although the paddling pool has been entertaining families in the town for decades, running costs are now in excess of £1,000 per week.

The pool has always been free to use, however, the town council has spent thousands on renovating the pool in recent years and those costs are eating into the annual budget.

One of the other issues surrounding the pool was the fact many people from outside the area are coming to enjoy the unique facilities.

Last summer, the council also introduced a booking system in a bid to manage numbers, but that also resulted in an increase in staffing costs.

Speaking at the meeting in January, town clerk Chris Shaw said: "One of the problems with this was people block booking sessions for a whole week and not turning up.

"This meant some families missed out on attending.

"From the information gathered it seems to show that more than half of those people making bookings were from out of the area.

He went on to say he hoped the introduction of a non-refundable minimal charge would discourage that kind of behaviour, but councillors said they were keen to ensure local families in need can still use the pool for free.

Northwich Town Council meet on Monday, April 4, at 6pm.