Summit held to kick-start plans for new city pool

A swimming club and a university principal joined politicians at a summit aimed at bringing a public pool back to a city.

Peterborough City Council hosted the event at its offices on Friday, after the government announced funding could be available for a new facility earlier this month.

Peterborough has been without an public indoor swimming pool for two years, and it is estimated building a new one could cost £30m.

Dennis Jones, the council's Labour leader, said the summit was a chance for different people to "get round the table" and come up with a business case for a new facility.

"It was heartening to feel the passion and enthusiasm in the room to deliver a new pool," he said.

The government announced plans for a Peterborough Sports Quarter, complete with indoor swimming pool, in the recent spending review.

In order to bid for a share of the new £240m Growth Mission Fund, which will be spent on local projects, a business case would need to be put together.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the quarter would form part of the Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) campus in the city and "drive activity and community cohesion".

Jones said the announcement had "fired the starting block in attracting the funding needed to deliver a new pool".

The city's MPs Andrew Pakes and Sam Carling went to the summit, along with representatives from the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority and ARU Peterborough.

They were joined by the City of Peterborough Swimming Club, Friends of Peterborough Lido, and local charity, Living Sport.

Carling, the Labour MP for North West Cambridgeshire, whose constituency covers much of the south of the city, said: "We all want to see a new pool delivered for Peterborough.

"This matters to families, schools, clubs and communities."

Morgan Stevenson, from the City of Peterborough Swimming Club, said he was excited by the "ambition and energy" from others in moving the project forward.

"We're fully committed to working in partnership with the wider group to help deliver the modern, inclusive aquatic facility that Peterborough truly deserves," he added.

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