Boost for Peterborough hydro pool plans as 'significant first step' taken

Councillors voted unanimously to approve the redevelopment of The Barn on Hodgson Avenue in Werrington, a move which will enable an interested third-party to establish a new hydrotherapy and rehabilitation facility.

The move has been warmly welcomed by local residents and campaign groups.

“This is good news,” said Karen Oldale, St George’s Friends and Service Users’ Lead, who described the approval as a “significant and important first step.”

Calls for a new hydrotherapy pool to be built in Peterborough have grown louder since 2022 when the City Council announced its St George’s community hydrotherapy pool would not reopen following a survey which revealed it required repairs costing more than £270,000.

“The closure of St George’s without a replacement, had a devastating impact on the health and wellbeing of the residents who depended on the hydrotherapy pool,” Karen said.

It is believed the proposed new facility – which will align with the council’s Health and Wellbeing priorities – will incorporate robotic-assisted therapy equipment.

“On behalf of service users, I am very relieved and grateful,” Karen said. “It gives us hope again.”

Council Leader Shabina Qayyum described the prospect of having hydrotherapy services available within Peterborough once again as a “really good news story for our city.”

“We are so pleased that a private provider has taken an interest in this [and] has started right at the beginning in wanting hydrotherapy in our city,” she told LDRS after the Cabinet meeting concluded.

Cllr Qayyum – who is also a GP – was keen to highlight just vital hydrotherapy can be in relation to treating medical conditions, alleviating pain and discomfort, and delivering trauma rehabilitation.

“The clinical benefits of this [hydrotherapy] are substantiated,” she said. “There is a whole plethora of clinical issues that hydrotherapy benefits and then takes off that extra resource from our NHS.”