Peterborough Labour leader vows to keep city’s hydrotherapy pool open

The Labour leader on Peterborough City Council has vowed to save the St George’s Hydrotherapy Pool after the authority said it would be ‘mothballed’.

This week leader of the council Wayne Fitzgerald said it was not in the financial interests of the authority to save the pool - despite the council having discussions with a physiotherapist over its sale.

Today, councillor Shaz Nawaz, the Labour leader on Peterborough City Council, has vowed to save the Dogsthorpe pool, if he becomes leader of the council after the local elections on May 5th.

A deal was already in place with Ranjith Mahamani, which was pulled at the last minute.

Councillor Fitzgerald said it would cost the council £100,000 to get the pool in a state to go ahead with the sale.

MORE: Peterborough GP planning new hydrotherapy pool in city

Ranjith had agreed to refurb the pool and pay the council a six-figure-sum to buy the facility outright and Councillor Nawaz says that he would honour that deal, subject to all the usual checks.

MORE: Physio who planned to buy hydrotherapy pool says council ‘let community down’ after pulling out of deal

He said; “The pool is an integral and important part of the community. People with life threatening injuries and illnesses use the pool on a regular basis to make quicker recoveries from their injuries, both mental and physical. Why should a cancer patient have to wait up to two years for a new pool to be built to improve their health, when this pool could re-open in a matter of months, at little cost to the council?

“Ranjith is spending £90K on improving the facility, is paying a six-figure-sum to take over the pool, has spent £12K on costs, has already employed two staff members to support the pool and patients, and most importantly, he is giving 20 hours per week for community use.

“All he wants in return is for the utilities to be separated so that he only pays for what he and the pool user use for their treatment and recovery. He wants no special favours. The six-figure-sum he is paying is more than enough to cover separating the utilities. I don’t see any reason why we cannot make this happen.”

Karen Oldale, St George’s Friends and Service Users’ Lead, says the loss of the pool would be incomprehensible and lead to a much higher cost burden on the NHS.

She said: “It’s vital that the pool stays open. Studies have shown that the service provides around £1.55m annually in financial and societal benefit and value. If the centre is closed for, say two years, that means £3.1m in costs that someone else will have to pick up like the NHS, not to mention the devastating effect on some of the city’s most vulnerable residents.”

Councillor Nawaz added: “As a council we must honour our word. That is the only way residents and businesses will trust us. We have a way to go before that happens. Why would anyone want to do business with the council after seeing what Ranjith has been through? Our word must be our bond.

“The new pool application will take a long time to approve – even longer to build – and no guarantee of 20 hours use for the community – this is short-sighted and silly, something we can become accustomed to from the Conservatives over recent years. Nothing is guaranteed in planning, for all I know, the planning application might be refused by officers. What then? How much longer would we have to wait for a revised or new application while residents suffer and lose out on yet another vital service.

“It’s no use the Conservative leader, Wayne Fitzgerald, blaming officers for this mess (as he did on the radio on Monday) it’s about time he took ownership and responsibility for his actions and decisions.

“We can’t let people sit on the side-lines and wait while a new pool is sorted – people don’t have that much time and we are putting lives at risk.”