Swimming club without a pool buoyed by plans for £25 million Olympic-grade facility in Peterborough

A Peterborough swimming club that faces a future without a pool in its home city has welcomed ambitious plans to create a £25 million plus Olympic-grade baths near the university.

Leaders of the City of Peterborough Swimming Club (COPS) say that a top grade indoor pool would bring huge benefits to swimmers and to the economic well being of the city.

The club has been left floundering since the closure of the Peterborough Regional Pool more than a year ago with swimmers facing trips across three counties to take part in competitions.

It has been using pools at Jack Hunt, Stanground, Whittlesey, Stamford Junior school and Oundle and could even use the Lido.

But they are buoyant by the new vision for the new facility that was revealed by Peterborough MP Andrew Pakes who says it should be possible to complete the indoor pool within five years.

He says the new pool could be built on the site of the former regional pool of Bishop’s Road, and which is already owned by Peterborough City Council.

It is hoped a consortium made up of the council, the Combined Authority, ARU Peterborough and the swimming club and others could be created to drive the development and source funding, which could range from £25 million to £40 million.

Morgan Stevenson, chairman of the swimming club, said: “This is a long-overdue and desperately needed development.

"The closure of the Regional Pool over a year ago has had a severe and ongoing impact on the city’s swimming community.

"Our club has been operating without a permanent home, forced to train across three counties simply to maintain our current programme.

"This has placed immense strain on our athletes, families, and coaches and has limited our ability to grow, develop new talent, and serve the wider community.”

Mr Stevenson said: “COPS urgently needs a 50-metre pool to support our performance pathway and continue producing swimmers who compete and medal at regional, national and international levels.

"However, the need goes far beyond our club.

"Cambridgeshire remains one of the only counties without a single 50 metre standard facility.

"A new pool would not only strengthen local talent development, it would also bring economic benefits through the hosting of regional and national swimming events attracting thousands of swimmers to the city to compete.

"The average performance swimmer for COPS spends nearly £3,000 a year on hotels, food and travel expenses in other cities with a 50 metre pool hosting regional and national level meets.

“Local businesses in Peterborough are missing out on this revenue buy not having the facilities the city and county deserve.”

He added: “Our club has been vocal about the need for genuine action, and we agree that delivering the swimming and leisure elements as a focused, stand-alone project would accelerate the timeline and ensure the needs of our city are met sooner.

"We are also encouraged by the proposal for roundtable discussions. COPS, with the full support of Swim England’s Cambridgeshire County Chair, is ready to play an active role in developing the plan and securing the funding needed.”

Council leader Councillor Dennis Jones said: “Plans for a new leisure centre continue to be explored and we are working to bring a business case forward to Cabinet soon.

"We continue to seek investors interested in supporting a new pool development.”