GP says costs make new hydrotherapy pool 'unviable'

Plans for a new hydrotherapy pool at a Peterborough GP practice have been dropped after rising construction and energy costs made the project "unviable".

The multi-million-pound facility at Thistlemoor Medical Centre in Millfield was approved by Peterborough City Council in 2024, with plans for both land-based and aquatic physiotherapy services.

Dr Neil Modha, managing partner at the Lincoln Road surgery, said: "The build costs have increased by about 20%, and the Iran war has pushed steel prices up by around 20%, so we've had to reassess the project."

Karen Oldale, who has campaigned for a replacement for the closed St George's hydrotherapy pool in Dogsthorpe, said it was "a terrible blow".

The new facility had been seen as vital by campaigners calling for a new hydrotherapy pool in the city following the closure of St George's community hydrotherapy pool in 2022, after the council said it faced a £270,000 repair bill.

"We even helped with the [new pool's] design," added Oldale, from the St George's Friends and Service Users' group.

The group said St George's had offered:

• benefits for children and adults with a wide range of disabilities or long-term health conditions
• rehabilitation from surgery or an injury
• valuable relaxation and leisure time for those with learning and physical disabilities

Dr Modha said the complexity of constructing the pool had also influenced the decision.

"Hydrotherapy was the most complex bit of the development because you've got to dig down into the ground, you've got to excavate a lot more, you've got to have drainage that works for it [and] doesn't cause any problems," he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Earlier this year, the council approved proposals from a third-party organisation to redevelop The Barn on Hodgson Avenue in Werrington into a new hydrotherapy facility.

Oldale said: "I sincerely hope Peterborough City Council's approval for the development of a hydrotherapy pool in Werrington comes to fruition very soon."

Dr Modha said the three-storey GP extension would still deliver new services, including expanded NHS dental provision, eye care facilities and potentially treatments such as chemotherapy and intravenous antibiotics.

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