PLANS for a new swimming pool in Minehead appear to be dead in the water after a feasibility study found it may not be commercially viable.

Minehead has been without a publicly-operated swimming pool since West Somerset Council closed its Aquasplash facility off Seaward Way in 2008.

The former Somerset West and Taunton Council (SWT) set aside land at the southern end of Seaward Way last year using £10,000 from the Hinkley Point C community mitigation fund.

But Somerset Council, which replaced SWT in April, has now confirmed the pool is ‘not being pursued’ since the feasibility study did not conclude it would definitely be able to pay for itself.

The study was undertaken by Glastonbury-based APS Pool Contracting Ltd, which has more than 30 years’ experience of designing and maintaining swimming pools.

The council did not confirm if the entire £10,000 was spent on the study, stating it had ‘no details of the cost’.

However, officers have confirmed the study will not be made public since the project is not being taken forward at this time.

A council spokesman said: “It is our understanding that the idea is not being pursued. The study was not definitive regarding viability.”

Since the closure of Aquasplash, Minehead residents have had to rely on a community-run pool in St Michael’s First School, which the school runs as a charitable venture, or pay to use facilities in the Butlin’s holiday resort.

The nearest publicly-run swimming pools to Minehead are in Taunton and Wellington, both run by the council’s leisure partner Everyone Active, or in Tiverton, Devon.

Reports on social media indicated Minehead’s Irnham Road Recreation Ground was also being considered for a swimming pool project, but council officers have not confirmed it.

The council, which is facing a budget crisis, said it did not have the means to fund the building of a new lido or indoor swimming pool and that any new facility would require significant capital funding on top of contributions from local housing developments, or National Lottery money.

A spokesman said: “The council does not intend to build a pool ‘in-house’, but has set aside land in order that a third party might do so.

“Any pool would need a number of funding sources.

“We have set aside land but no capital funding exists for the project.

“It is possible that Section 106 funding or community infrastructure levy (CIL) might be used to part-fund a facility, but significant external funding would be needed.”