THE skatepark in Tenbury has been able to be reopen so that it can be used by young people for the remainder of the summer holiday.

But it is only a partial reopening and the town council faces a big bill for the replacement of one of the most important items of equipment.

It was damaged by flooding in February and the coronavirus has held up repair work.

But now the town council has discovered that installing a ‘half pipe’ will come with a price tag of £14,500 and if they decide to go for a 'full pipe' the bill will be £29,000.

This comes at a time when Tenbury Town Council funds are under pressure because the Pump Rooms is not available for hire for weddings or other events.

The council is also facing bills in connection with work at the Regal Cinema that it owns and therefore carries responsibility for repairs to the structure of the building.

Work has been done to put cladding on the community centre behind the Regal but because plastic has been used this will have to be removed and the council is in discussions with the contractor about the cost.

Work is progressing well on a major refurbishment at Tenbury Swimming Pool and Leisure Centre but this will not be completed until October after the summer holidays have finished.

The community pool group that owns the swimming pool on behalf of the town has also found that Covid-19 has made fund raising very difficult.

“The last few months have been hard as we have not been able to continue to raise funds that we needed due to most funders concentrating on Covid causes,” said Jane Jenner, one of the trustees.

“In addition, the flooding and then coronavirus has made it very difficult to approach local businesses for support. We have proceeded with the refurbishment as this seemed the best time to do the work when the facility had to be closed due to coronavirus.”

Progress is being made and the project is on target.

All the old radiators have been removed and new pipework installed. The showers will run from the mains and not be dependent upon a hot water tank that could result in people unintentionally taking a cold shower.

All the electrics have been reinstalled alongside additional wiring that will be needed for the improved lighting and the solar panels have been reconnected.

Fire and panic alarms are also back online.

The new office has been completely wired – some of which dated in the old office back to the 1970’s.

There is new ductwork for the additional changing rooms and improvements to the site, gym and pool ventilation. These promise to give improvements to the humidity levels poolside, particular in the gents and new changing rooms.

The building is now completely secure with a new roof, external doors and windows. Freedom Leisure is responsible for the day to day running of the pool.