The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
PLANS TO DEMOLISH REGIONAL POOL SITE
● New facility to be built on city centre car park ● Sauna, teaching pool and gym planned
Plans to demolish Peterborough’s Regional Pool and build a new facility at Fair Meadow Car Park on Oundle Road have been revealed.
A new report from PeterboroughCity Council has said the current pool, located near the Embankment, will reach the endofit’soperationallifewithin the next five to 10 years.
It was built in 1976, with a last refurbishment taking place in 2011.
Anumberofsitesforanew pool – including the current site – have been examined, with the favoured site being the council car park at the junction of Oundle Road and London Road.
Thereportsaid:“Peterborough’s Regional Pool is close to the end of its useful operational life.”
It is expected that it will need to be replaced or be subject to major renovation and refurbishment within the next five-10 years, with the latest condition survey recommending £6m of work over the next decade and the bulk of that (about £4.5m) in the next two.
The regional pool is an outdated facility with high operating costs and unsatisfactory changing area facilities; it lacks a sports hall, has a limited activity offer and is subject to increasingly high repairandmaintenancecosts.
There is also insufficient capacity to accommodate the demand for water space that the city’s population needs; this is likely to becomeamore acute problem as the city continues to grow.”
The new building would have a 25m eight -lane main pool with 300 spectator seats, like the current pool.
Thereportsays it wouldalso have a minimum of a 15m x 10m teaching pool, sauna and steamandrelaxationareaand a 150 station gym – although an ‘optimal’ mix would have a 17m x 15m teaching pool with moveable floor, 350 sqm leisure water with flume, water features and toddler splash zone, sauna and steam, relaxation area and treatment rooms and a 175 station gym, two exercise studios (with moveable partition between) both 40-person capacity, a smaller yoga/pilates studio with 20-person capacity, a 20 personspinningstudio, afour court sports hall, softplayand a 75-seat cafe.
A diving pool is not included in the plans.
Seven sites were selected as potential locations –the existing regional pool site, Wellington Street Car Park, Pleasure Fair Meadows Car Park, Northminster, North Westgate, Mayor’s Walk and Maskew Avenue, with ease of access, city centre proximity, availability, ease of control, planningpolicyandsiteprominence all taken into account.
However, t he council report says: “The analysis highlights that Pleasure Fair Meadows site meets most of the location criteria and appears the best available location. This viewissharedbythe specialist leisure consultants who have considered the site options.”
The work to be undertaken on the development of the business case will be funded bythePIPwithacontribution from the council through the Community Infrastructure levy budget.
The total cost of preparing the detailed business case is expected to be £35k.
The PIP has agreed to contribute 50 per cent of these costs with the balance funded through the CIL.
Ben Negus, head coach of City of Peterborough Swimming Club, welcomed the news. He said: “We are happy to see great ambitions set out for the future of Peterborough’s aquatics. The minimum the city requires to replace the provisions the regional gives us is an eight lane 25m pool with a learn to swim pool outlet.
“To see this kind of pitch for thefutureofPeterborough is very positive.
“The ambition of the city’s future talent and its community needs should always be matched by the investment of the city and this is a positive step in the right direction to providing Peterborough with renewedfacilities onthecity’s doorstep”.