THE controversial plan to replace Scartho Baths with a brand new £8.4-million swimming pool is to be examined by the Audit Commission.
The move comes after a Laceby resident contacted them to express concerns that the planned project did not represent good value for tax-payers' money.
Richard Macklam, who is a member of the Save Scartho Baths campaign, emailed the the commission, claiming that the work could be done for around £2-million less than the quoted price tag.
In his correspondence he included quotations provided by a professional builder stating that his company could design and build a 25-metre pool – the same size as the proposed new facility at Cromwell Road – for between £5.5 and £6 million, and a 50-metre international standard pool for around £7.5-million.
John Prentice, engagement lead at KPMG, the private firm contracted by the Audit Commission to inspect the accounts of local authorities in the Yorkshire and Humber region, replied by confirming that he would be looking into the matter.
He wrote: "I am arranging for some initial enquiries with the council to obtain further information. I will contact you when we have completed our examination of this matter."
Mr Macklam said he contacted the Audit Commission after being referred to them by the Local Government Ombudsman.
Campaigners opposed to the planned closure of Scartho Baths – branded by some as a "debacle" – have previously told the Grimsby Telegraph that they would consider making a complaint to the ombudsman over North East Lincolnshire Council's handling of the issue.
However, they are now pinning their hopes on the response from the Audit Commission.
More than 9,800 people have now signed a petition opposing the new pool plan, but it was voted through by full council in December.
Although the main cause of objection was the location and accessibility of the new facility, many campaigners, supported by MPs Austin Mitchell and Martin Vickers, raised questions about the cost of the project.
You can read previous stories on the campaign to save the pool at www.thisisgrimsby.co.uk
Mr Macklam said: "The point I made to the Audit Commission is how can the council justify spending £8.4 million when we have found another provider who can do it a lot cheaper?
"You are looking at an overspend here of around two-and-a-half million pounds and I find that totally irresponsible. I am not a professional pursuer of quotations, so if I can pick up the phone and get a cheaper quotation why can't the council?"
Phil Gordon, a partner at Competition Pool Solutions, the firm which provided the quotations to Mr Macklam, told the Grimsby Telegraph that he had also contacted the council offering to discuss his company's proposals on several occasions, expressing concern that the cost of the £8.4-million project was far too high.
But he said there was "absolutely no inclination" from the council to meet with him, adding he felt that "they had a predefined route and they just weren't going to move from it".
When contacted by the Grimsby Telegraph yesterday, Mr Prentice said: "I can confirm that I have been contacted by Mr Macklam. The matters he raised may fall within my responsibilities, as the appointed auditor, for giving a value for money conclusion on North East Lincolnshire Council's accounts although that has still to be confirmed.
"I have made some enquiries of the council and I am awaiting a response from council officers. Until I have received and reviewed that response I am unable to comment any further."
A spokeswoman for North East Lincolnshire Council confirmed they had been contacted by Mr Prentice and said: "We will engage with him in the usual way as we do with similar queries."
Editor's Comment PROTESTORS against the demolition of Scartho Baths are determined in their fight to ensure no stone is unturned. It would seem that, from the point of view of the local authority, that the decision has been made, is sorted and there is no going back. The leisure bosses are adamant that a new pool is what the majority of the public of North East Lincolnshire will want once they see it. Spending on the aging pool is simply not on the agenda. Do they have a point? In Louth it worked. This small market town had a rundown pool and replaced it with a swanky new leisure centre, which is now seeing more visitors through its doors than ever before. However there were a number of real differences – it was replaced by something much better, a whole centre in fact! And it was done at a time when there was more cash in the council coffers. *Do you want a new pool in Grimsby? Follow the editor on Twitter @michellelalor
