Plans for £19m swimming centre approved

The centre will have a six-lane pool and a learner pool

Plans to build a £19m swimming pool in Teesside have been approved.

It is hoped the replacement centre at Eston, near Redcar, will open in early 2026, after planning permission was given the go-ahead.

The venue will be made up of a 25m (82ft) six-lane pool, as well as a separate learner pool with a movable floor.

Labour's Neil Bendelow, from Redcar and Cleveland Council, said: “We have one of the most deprived wards in the country - so the pool’s only going to help with exercise and fitness for everyone.”

The council plans to borrow more than £12m to fund its construction.

The multimillion-pound price tag was questioned by the Liberal Democrats' Tristan Learoyd, who asked why the council was spending so much money on a new pool after cutting £400,000 from its library budget.

“I’m not playing down the importance of people being fit and active,” he said. “But I don’t think a swimming pool was really on our priority list.”

Mr Bendelow said other pools in the region were “full to capacity”.

“There’s a need for a learner pool,” he added.

Construction of the new centre is set to start in the autumn, the local authority said, after the previous building was demolished.

The new building will have solar panels, air source heat pumps and a Changing Places facility.

Everyone Active, the council's private sector partner which operates leisure facilities on its behalf, will run the centre.