A HORLEY father has suggested an innovative development to improve the High Street – a paddling pool.
As previously reported in the Mirror, Horley Town Management Group (HTMG) has been awarded £50,000 from the Mary Portas Campaign following the retail expert's report into the nation's high streets last year.
Currently, HTMG has allocated £16,000 of the money to consultant firm Metamorphosis Group to carry out an audit of the town, the results of which are due in October. But father-of-one Dean Smith, from Horley, says one way of bolstering the High Street would be to build a paddling pool.
Mr Smith, who lives on the Acres estate, said: "It would be [good] because you haven't got one in Reigate and also Redhill. Families would hear about the paddling pool, especially during the summer months.
"I remember as a kid going to a park where I used to live and that used to have a paddling pool. If you put it right where the shops are [customers] are going to wander in and say 'this is a nice little town'."
Despite the running costs such a project entails, other councils are building paddling pools.
In June, Peterborough City Council opened a new pool inside its Central Park at a cost of £128,100.
Mr Smith, 38, has suggested the disused former Newman House car park in Victoria Road could be a possible location, though the price of the land – £1.75 million – might prove prohibitive.
Another suggested location is within the recreation ground off Brighton Road.
Councillor Allen Kay, deputy leader for Reigate and Banstead Borough Council and portfolio holder for parks and recycling, said: "We [used] to have one in the Priory [Park] and I think that was causing problems, especially in the evenings with older children jumping in and out."
He also pointed out it might be difficult to employ a lifeguard to always be on duty.
But Cllr Kay, ward member for Horley Central, said: "An ornamental pool might be nice. There's a long-term plan, going back some ten years; we thought about widening the subway [in Horley] to make it bigger and building on the area next to it."
He said that within that plan an ornamental lake was considered. "It's been parked, but to get the area regenerated it is something we would look at again. It's actively in our minds."
What do you think the Mary Portas money should be spent on? Are their any improvements you'd like to see in the town?
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