Roof over Peterborough Lido ‘not worth pursuing’ due to cost and heritage concerns

Having a roof over the Lido in Peterborough would not be worth pursuing, according to a new report.
The Lido will re-open for the 2021 seasonThe Lido will re-open for the 2021 season
The Lido will re-open for the 2021 season

Analysis carried out by SLC (The Sport, Leisure and Culture Consultancy) on behalf of the city council concluded that there were too many issues to overcome, including cost and heritage.

The idea of having a roof over the outdoor pool in Bishop’s Road - which could potentially be retractable - was previously put forward by former council leader Marco Cereste but was never progressed.

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Analysis of potential improvements to the Lido were carried out as part of a review into demolishing the Regional Pool in Bishop’s Road and replacing it with a brand new facility at Pleasure Fair Meadow Car Park in Oundle Road.

The project costing up to £38 million is due to be signed off by the council’s Conservative-run Cabinet on Monday before being put before councillors for final approval.

SLC was tasked with considering whether developing the Lido would be better than funding a brand new facility at the car park.

The Lido has been run by Vivacity for the past decade before the trust handed the Grade II Listed facility back to the council this year due to the financial impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.

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The pool regularly makes a loss and was unable to open this year because of the pandemic, but council service director for communities and partnerships Adrian Chapman told councillors recently that he envisaged the site becoming operational all-year round, rather than just between May and September.

The Lido was designed in 1936 and contains a learner pool and a paddling pool, with a grassed area to the rear of about half an acre surrounded by mature trees.

The two options for the site which were considered by SLC were:

. Maintaining the existing structure and pool arrangement as much as possible, while developing a structure to the rear which would contain a 25m all-weather pool and further leisure facilities.

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. Convert the Lido to an all-weather facility by covering it and adding a building to the rear that would contain all of the other leisure facilities set to be provided at Pleasure Fair Meadow, but with no main pool.

One issue discovered by SLC was covenants on the land, which is owned by the council.

This includes needing approval of any new buildings “by the surveyors for the Ecclesiastical Commissioners for England (“Commissioners”) and by the Lord Bishop of Peterborough” which might be “a lengthy – and potentially costly – negotiation,” it stated.

Moreover, any development of the Lido could contravene its Listed status which is centred on its design and the external views from the site.

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It is believed any re-design would present “significant challenges in planning terms” as well as a large cost.

This would be £36 million to £38.5 million for the first option and £43 million to £52 million for the second option, although this would rise if the roof was retractable.

Moreover, developing the land would “reduce the green and events space available”.

SLC concluded: “Securing the Lido’s long-term future is important for the city and the council.

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“Delivering at best marginal cost savings, increasing development and costs risks, sacrificing significant green space and having substantial negative impact on the core Listed facility, means that it is clear, however, that this is not the way to do it.”

SLC also looked at the feasibility of Peterborough getting a new 50m pool, which has been suggested by councillors and groups in the past.

But it concluded that “50m pool facilities rarely run at an operational surplus and so are very unlikely to be able to generate sufficient revenue to cover capital cost repayments”.

The Lido is almost 50m in length but is only 18m wide - 3m short to be eligible for competitions. It is also too shallow to host competitive events.

To make the necessary alterations would cost nearly £10 million and would most likely see the learner pool removed, according to SLC.

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