A FINAL decision is due to be made today over the fate of a new swimming pool for Hadleigh.A proposal not to go ahead with the construction of a new 25m, six lane pool will be put to Babergh District Council.

A FINAL decision is due to be made today over the fate of a new swimming pool for Hadleigh.

A proposal not to go ahead with the construction of a new 25m, six lane pool will be put to Babergh District Council.

The suggestion not to press forward with the creation of the new pool comes after the estimated cost of the project shot up from £3.2m to between £5.5m and £7.2m following the publication of an architect's report.

Babergh said the spiralling costs would result in council tax hikes of eight or nine per cent.

Councillor Nick Ridley, Babergh's strategy committee chairman, said after the report was published: “In light of the results of the consultants' report, the key challenge for Babergh is now to consider whether swimming can be retained in the town in the long-term or whether the health and well-being of residents both in the town and outside it may be better served by either refurbishing the existing facility or investing in other leisure and community services in the town.”

However hopes for some form of pool in the town are not dead-in-the water, as Babergh has commissioned a £8,000 report to examine the structure of the current one.

It has also pumped £21,000 into a study exploring the possibility of creating a fitness suite, dance studio and meeting room in Hadleigh.

n Does Hadleigh need a new swimming pool? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich IP4 1AN or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk