Peterborough City Council decides to close hydrotherapy pool

Friends of St George's had been fighting to keep the facility open for its 4,500 registered users

A city council has agreed to permanently close a hydrotherapy pool that campaigners said had been "transforming lives" for a decade.

Peterborough City Council's decision to close St George's hydrotherapy pool comes after it shut temporarily due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The council said costs to run the facility were too high and no alternative solution could be found.

Friends of St George's said the decision was "unbelievable".

During the Conservative-led council's cabinet meeting on Monday, Rob Hill, the assistant director for communities, said: "Despite every effort examining the options to reopen St George's hydrotherapy pool and a detailed specialist survey being carried out, costs have now risen to £278,866.

"Analysis of the options included selling the business, leasing the business, a joint venture with the original owner and a community asset transfer, none of these would prove to be cost effective."

The pool, at Heltwate Special School, had 48 hours a week set aside for children and adults with disabilities or long-term health conditions

Friends of St George's had been fighting to keep the facility open for its 4,500 registered users, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Karen Oldale, from the group, said it seemed "unbelievable" that the council had chosen to close a "successful, well-used and vital public service" that she said had been "transforming lives for the last 10 years".

"At a time when adult health care cuts are being so closely examined, why take away from 4,500 registered users a facility that to reopen or rebuild in the future could cost taxpayers hundreds or thousands or possibly millions of pounds?" she asked.

Before the pandemic, the pool, that is in the same building as the Heltwate Special School, was open 48 hours per week to provide support for children and adults with disabilities or long-term health conditions.

It has been closed since March 2020 but prior to its closure, it was operated by Vivacity on behalf of the council at a net revenue cost of about £50,000 per year.

The pool was also threatened with closure in 2014.

Friends of St George's had been fighting to keep the facility, in Bretton, open