Council reviews plans for new hydrotherapy pool

A new hydrotherapy pool and rehabilitation centre could be developed in a city.

Peterborough City Council's cabinet will review a proposal on Tuesday from a third party organisation seeking to redevelop The Barn on Hodgson Avenue, Werrington, into a new hydrotherapy facility.

The proposal follows the closure and demolition of St George's Hydrotherapy Pool in Dogsthorpe, which was decommissioned after a council survey found it would cost more than £270,000 to repair.

Plans for the new centre include it having robotic-assisted therapy equipment, which would align with the council's health and wellbeing priorities.

The barn is currently leased to the Personalised Eating Disorder Group (PEDS), which provided local mental health and wellbeing support.

While PEDS occupied the main building, the land at the rear of the site was surplus and was not currently used for operational or public purposes.

At the time of the pool's closing, Karen Oldale, of the Friends of St George's, said: "We know the loss of access to a hydrotherapy pool has had a very detrimental impact on many local people's health and wellbeing.

"Even now I regularly receive messages from people who are absolutely desperate to access a hydrotherapy pool."

The cabinet said it would discuss the proposal further at the meeting.

Last year, Peterborough City Council approved proposals for a new privately-run therapy complex at the Thistlemoor Medical Centre on Lincoln Road, Millfield.

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