Opposition councillors send letter asking questions of council leader over collapsed sale of Peterborough hydrotherapy pool

Thirty councillors have sent a list of questions to council leader Wayne Fitzgerald about the collapsed sale of the St George’s Hydrotherapy Pool in Peterborough.

The council had been in negotiations with Ranjith Mahamani to sell the pool – but as exclusively revealed by The Peterborough Telegraph, the authority pulled the plug on the deal, saying the facility would be mothballed instead.

Since it was revealed the sale was being withdrawn, a city GP, Dr Neil Modha, has said he has plans to build a new hydrotherapy pool at the Thistlemoor Surgery on Lincoln Road – something that has provided more questions for the authority. Dr Modha said a planning application could be made by the end of April.

Mr Mahamani and the council have also disagreed with the figures provided surrounding the sale.

The new letter, signed by 30 of the 31 opposition councillors – only Mayor Stephen Lane has not signed the letter – calls for Cllr Fitzgerald to answer 15 questions around the sale of the pool within five working days – ahead of the local elections, which take place next week.

It had been hoped an extraordinary meeting of the council would be held to discuss the issue – but the opposition councillors have said a provisional date of May 23 is too far in the future.

The letter

Dear Councillor Fitzgerald

We have been contacted by numerous former users and concerned residents who have shared their disappointment and frustration about St George’s Hydrotherapy pool not re-opening. We are equally as disappointed and concerned. After the regrettable announcement on 5 April 2022 by the Executive Director for Place and Economy regarding the decision to mothball St George's Hydrotherapy Pool siting significant and unaffordable investment was required to bring the facilities up to standard, and then further in response to your public announcement that Dr Modha is to submit a planning application for a new hydrotherapy pool at Thistlemoor Medical Centre, it should come as no surprise to you that we as opposition councillors have many questions regarding how this has all come to pass and we would want to democratically scrutinise this decision further.

No doubt, you will attempt to dismiss this request for information as electioneering just before the local election, but it should be remembered that it was your administration that made this decision and the announcement and therefore it is you as leader that must own the responsibility for its timing.

Our attempt to call an emergency council meeting as quickly as possible so that we might put questions openly regarding the decision have at the Mayors prerogative, been unfairly thwarted until 23 May 2022 which we believe is an unreasonably protracted delay and therefore call on you by way of this open letter to answer the following initial questions publicly within the next five working days.

At what point did we realise the sale wasn’t viable? Per point to - why was the viability not considered earlier When did talks with Dr Modha for a new pool begin? What new information came to light when the council withdrew from the sale which wasn’t available six months prior? Why has the decision to withdraw been so last minute, leaving Mr Mahamani in a very difficult position? Why did the council not liaise with Heltwate school earlier to establish their needs and requirements before entering into a negotiation with Mr Mahamani? If as leader, you knew that "St George’s is being held together with chewing gum and sticky tape and it has reached the end of its serviceable life”, why then was this put on the market for sale as a Hydrotherapy Pool Why would anyone want to buy it as a commercial project if it was indeed in such a poor condition? Why did the council not explore the costings (estimated at £100k/£140k) during the initial negotiation process with the proposed developer? What are the actual costs to keep the pool open for the council? Mr Mahamani has said only £40k is required as opposed to the estimated figures above? How much money do we need to spend on the property before we can sell it - please provide a detailed breakdown Who owns the land earmarked for the proposed new hydrotherapy pool and if it is the council owned, what is the agreed sale value? How can we be certain this new pool will be provided? Will the new pool take referrals from the NHS? What assurances will there be if a new pool if built that users will pay the same rates/ prices as they are currently paying? What will users of the pool do if it is to be 'mothballed' while there is no other pool available in the area or should the new pool not materialise?

We look forward to your detailed response to each question.

Council leader’s response

In response to the letter, cllr Fitzgerald told the Peterborough Telegraph: “I will respond in due course after officers have prepared the reply.”

Cllr Fitzgerald has said the council were left with no choice but to close the pool, because of the cost that would be required to get the site up to a standard where it could be sold, and because neighbouring Heltwate School could need the

Petition set up to save pool

A petition to save the pool was set up last week, and has already seen more than 500 people sign it.

The petition is available to sign at https://democracy.peterborough.gov.uk/mgEPetitionDisplay.aspx?ID=111&RPID=8142263&HPID=8142263