Plans for a new teaching pool at a lido have been put “on hold” due to “financial challenges”.
Hackney Council has revealed that it will not be moving ahead with proposals to build a new indoor 13m pool next to the lido.
The decision came after plans to refurbish Kings Hall Leisure Centre in Clapton were approved at a cabinet meeting last week.
Hackney Mayor Caroline Woodley said that in order for the revamp of the leisure centre to go ahead, the London Fields teaching pool needed to be put “on hold”.
She described the decision as “difficult”, but said that it could not be avoided due to the “financial challenges” the council was facing.
Proposals to build a new teaching pool at London Fields Lido were first presented last year.
At the time, Hackney Council released CGI images of the 13m by 7m training pool, which would have taken the place of an old, decommissioned paddling pool.
The new facility would have had accessible toilets, a moveable floor and a viewing gallery.
It was hoped that the new pool would help to ease long queues that are commonplace at the lido during the summer months. In 2022, 340,000 visitors made use of the facilities.
Architects FaulknerBrowns – who worked on the Britannia Lesiure Centre – were said to have been charged with designing the new pool.
The firm will now develop plans to transform the Kings Hall Lesiure Centre, which is expected to be finished in 2028.
Hackney Council said that it decided to prioritise the Clapton centre because it is the only such facility in the east of the borough.
The investment in the leisure centre will come from council capital funding, and not from its day-to-day spending budget.
Under the plans, a new sauna, steam room and teaching pool will be created at Kings Hall.
For works to take place, it is expected to be shut for three years, starting next autumn.
Hackney Council has been approached for comment as to when it expects to be able to build the new London Fields teaching pool, if at all.
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