The restoration of Ipswich’s landmark Broomhill lido has been given unanimous backing by borough planners – despite fears of some residents that restoring the pool could lead to parking problems.
The borough’s planning and development committee backed the plans by Fusion Lifestyle to develop an all-year health club at the pool as part of a project to restore the 1938-built Art Deco pool.
This means that the only substantial hurdle still facing Fusion Lifestyle and its architects KLH is the Heritage Lottery Fund which is expected to announce whether the project has obtained millions of pounds of funding before the end of the year.
The HLF gave the pool £180,000 in development funding in 2015 with a view to making a £3.3m grant for the work to take place.
Ipswich Council, which owns the pool, has pledged a further £1m to the project which is expected to cost a total of £5.3m. If the HLF grant is made, it is hoped that the pool will reopen in 2020 – 18 years after it closed to swimmers.
Wednesday’s meeting heard from local resident John Ling, whose family has been at the forefront of the battle to reopen the pool.
He said he was delighted by the plans – but there were concerns among people living in Sherrington Road about the affect of traffic: “A lot of people use the car park next to the pool and if that is just for those going there, where will local people park?
“We do want to see the pool reopened and are really looking forward to that, but please don’t forget the parking issues.”
The borough has imposed a condition that road issues should be monitored and possible restrictions imposed once it becomes clear how the re-opened pool has affected traffic in the area.
It also put a condition in that the health club should close at 10pm to avoid late-night disruption to residents.
Portfolio holder for planning Carole Jones said everyone welcomed the application: “It has been a long time in the development and planning.
“But we have a wonderful scheme here that combines the original look of the pool with a modern development that means it will be in use all year around. I am sure everyone is looking forward to the day when it is open to the public again.”
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