Regional Pool set to be demolished as council reveals £26m price tag for repairs

Peterborough’s Regional Pool is likely to be demolished after the council was told the building would cost £26m to repair.

Around £15m would be needed for refurbishment, Peterborough City Council (PCC) says, on top of a further £11.5m for the removal of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete, or RAAC, which was identified in the building last year.

A new pool would cost an estimated £30m, it continues, but it could take until 2028 to open.

This estimate includes an eight-lane 25m pool, teaching pool, splash pool, café, sports hall, studio spaces, gym, clip and climb facilities and soft play and family area, PCC says.

The Regional Pool, on Bishops’ Road, has six lanes and is 25m. It dates back to the late 1970s.

PCC’s cabinet is expected to approve the recommendation to demolish the current pool and seek investment in a new facility at a meeting on Monday, 11th March.

After this, the council will put together a business case for a new pool and seek private partners to help deliver it, council leader Cllr Mohammed Farooq (Peterborough First, Hargate and Hempsted) told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

It will also then consider the location of the new pool.

“We’re going to find the most appropriate position,” he said. “It may well be that same position or it may be a little bit further up on the embankment on that side or this side towards the lido.”

He added that the council hopes to produce “something fit for the next 50 to 70 years” which could help contribute towards its net zero ambitions, such as by installing solar panels.

While Cllr Farooq says 2028 is the latest the new pool will open, Peterborough has been beset by delays to projects before, whether that be delivery of The Vine culture hub or the Hilton Hotel at Fletton Quays.

The council could, moreover, change hands in May at the local elections if a party other than Peterborough First takes power.

Asked about the possibility of disruption to the project, deputy council leader Cllr John Howard (Peterborough First, Hargate and Hempsted) said: “The decision-making we’re doing now and the plans we’re making for the next few years: we’re doing for the best of the city, not a political group.

“So, whoever does come in in May, and hopefully it’s us, they’ve got the continuity in place to pick up the baton and carry on.”

The Conservatives, which have run the council for the past 20 years, also intended to demolish the Regional Pool and bring on board a private partner to deliver a new one.

Former leader Cllr Wayne Fitzgerald (Conservatives, West) recently said the discovery of RAAC was the “final nail in the coffin” for the pool.

There were also talks of a new £38m pool at Pleasure Fair Meadow car park in 2020-21, but this never materialised.

The Regional has been closed since September.

It initially closed due to damaged asbestos before RAAC was identified, leading to the prolonged closure.

The council says it’ll continue providing interim provision for swimmers.

Swimming lessons are being offered on weekend afternoons at Stanground Academy and capacity for use of the pool Jack Hunt School has been expanded, allowing use for swim clubs, lessons and public swimming.

The Lido’s season was also extended last year, which could also happen again.