Council leader says pool closure means a 'long gap' in city centre swimming provision - but alternatives being considered

Whether Peterborough City Council (PCC) decides to repair the existing Regional Pool or build a new one, there’s going to be a “long term gap” in permanent, city-centre swimming provision, its leader has said.

Cllr Mohammed Farooq (Peterborough First, Hargate and Hampsted) said that it could take many months or years to complete either option and that the council is “looking at alternative areas where we can fill the gaps in”.

But that “doesn’t mean we’re not ambitious enough” to re-open the pool or a successor, he added.

The Regional Pool, or the Vivacity Regional Fitness and Indoor Swimming Centre, on Bishop’s Road has been closed since September, when reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) was identified in the building.

While closed, a survey of the building was undertaken revealing that £11-15m of repairs would need to be completed before it could safely re-open, including fixing a broken roof.

PCC’s Conservative party, which still led the council when the pool closed, said that it was in the process of finding a private sector partner for the commissioning of a new pool when Peterborough First took over.

Cllr Farooq, who replaced Cllr Wayne Fitzgerald (Conservatives, West) as leader, says that his group will have “some news in the coming weeks and days” on their plans for the Regional Pool.

“It’s on the forward plan [of executive decisions], coming in March,” he said, and before then questions will likely be asked about it at PCC’s next full council meeting.

In the meantime, “we’re sending our resources from Peterborough Ltd to help Stanground Academy where it’s needed,” Cllr Farooq said, as well as offering alternative provision at Jack Hunt School.

This “won’t just be between now and March,” he continued, as “even if we decide to repair the pool, it’ll take many months or if we decide to build a new one, it could take eighteen months to three years. So it’s a long term gap; it’s not short term.”

A spokesperson for the council said that “there has been alternative provision”, through both the swimming sessions available at local schools and the extended season of the Peterborough Lido, but that “it doesn't really meet what residents need”.

“It’s as much as we can offer at the moment,” the spokesperson said.

Peterborough’s Labour party has indicated it will raise the issue at PCC’s next full council meeting on 24th January.