Plans to turn football pitches into Peterborough Regional Pool car park but users could suffer in the short term

Plans have been drawn up to replace football pitches next to Peterborough's athletics track with a new temporary car park for the Regional Pool but users are set to be affected in the short term.

The pool currently has a 128-space car park at its site on Bishop’s Road but this is all set to be handed over to the university next month so that it can create its new £28m phase three teaching building and ‘Living Lab.’

Given that the application to replace the pitches on the Embankment has not yet been submitted, the pool will be without a full car park for a period of time; this timeframe has not yet been defined by the council.

During this time, the council has confirmed that users will have to make use of other town centre car parks such as Bishop's Road nearby.

The council is also evaluating how it can adapt the existing parking spaces that will not be handed over to the university to create more.

Should plans for the temporary car park come to fruition, the works will be funded by the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority’s Getting Building Fund.

Previously, plans were drawn up to create a replacement temporary 128-space car park, using grasscrete, on grass adjacent to the pool but this has now been deemed “not suitable.”

Council cabinet documents state that should the planning application for the site of the pitches be rejected, either the original plans will need to be revisited or the pool would simply cease to have a car park.

The council is only seeking to create a temporary car park as it plans to demolish the Regional Pool in future to allow for the creation of a new leisure facility, including a swimming pool, to be built at Pleasure Fair Meadow Car Park on Oundle Road.

A Peterborough City Council spokesperson, said: “The current car park for Regional Pool Leisure Centre users is due to be transferred to the university next month.

“We want users to know we are working to adapt existing parking facilities on site to accommodate more car-parking, which will be made clearer in the coming days. This would avoid some users and staff from having to walk off-site in the dark.

“We also have a plan for a temporary car park on redundant football pitches to the east of the site. In addition, there is car parking which would be made available to users in Bishop’s Road car park, a short distance from the Regional Pool. In the longer term, it is intended to establish a brand-new pool and leisure facility on a site in the city centre.

“The future growth of the university is important for the city’s long-term aims of making university education accessible and embedded in the local community – driving up wages and the local economy.

“However, we are committed to doing everything we can to look after users of the Regional Pool Leisure Centre and to ensure their safety while travelling to and from the pool.”