Author: broomhillpooltrust
STARS OF SUFFOLK AWARDS 2023/24.
Delighted to advise that “Mark Ling and TEAM” were presented with the CHARITY HEROS OF THE YEAR and overall “STAR OF SUFFOLK” awards!
Mark Ling, Chairman of The Broomhill Pool Trust said:
“It was inspiring to be in a room full of people, from all backgrounds, who have made a positive difference for Ipswich and Suffolk.
“After 20 years campaigning the real work really starts now, to ensure that the pool fits back into its local environment and is a wonderful asset and source of great pride to Ipswich & Suffolk. We look forward to our continued partnership with the stakeholders (Ipswich Borough Council, Fusion Lifestyle, and The National Lottery Heritage Fund).
“The Trust has a magnificent committee, many who have volunteered their skills, time, and dedication for over 20 years, many other unsung heros who have contributed to the epic campaign. This is a lovely accolade and acknowledgement for the Trust, and the awesome efforts the whole team has put in over these many years.
https://www.eadt.co.uk/news/24202678.winners-stars-suffolk-awards
Thanks to Ipswich StarEast Anglian Daily Times and MSC UK Ltd.
IPSWICH BOROUGH COUNCIL LEADER VISITS BROOMHILL POOL.
Broomhill Pool enjoys full cross-party and great public support. The Trust was delighted to welcome Ipswich Borough Council Leader, Cllr Neil MacDonald, to the pool on Tuesday, 19 March.
Ipswich Borough Council has guaranteed a grant of £3.3m that has secured the £10.5m restoration of the Grade II listed lido. The Borough’s grant was critical in securing a £6.8m National Lottery Heritage Fund Grant. The NLHF lottery grant is the largest ever for Central Suffolk & North Ipswich constituency, and one of the largest for the Borough of Ipswich.
Planning application has been submitted by operator, Fusion Lifestyle. Subject to approval, restoration works will commence early in 2025.
The Trust thanked Cllr MacDonald for the Borough’s genuine efforts to get the project over the line. Discussions focused on planning application for the pool, transport, parking, and infrastructure. Community engagement events will commence in the near future.
The Trust will continue to lobby our MPs and local politicians at borough and county level, to ensure that the area is best equipped. To ensure that the pool fits back into its local environment, and that the project is an asset and source of pride for all Ipswich.
Ipswich Borough Executive to discuss new Portman Road Pool to replace Crown Pools.
Ipswich Star Reports: Council goes ahead with plans for new Ipswich swimming pool.
“Plans for a new swimming pool and leisure facilities on Portman Road (as a replacement for Crown Pools) have moved ahead with the publication of a new study looking into the project…due to be considered by [Ipswich Borough] executive next week.
BBC Suffolk Reports: Portman Road ‘masterplan’ includes pool and hotel.
“John Cook, portfolio holder for sport and communities at the Labour-run council, acknowledged they were “ambitious” plans, but said funding was already in place for the multi-storey car park.
“The swimming pool is going to be a challenge for us – it will be a big expense.
“We will probably have to work with partners to deliver that but what we want to do is show our vision for the future.”
The council said Portman Road itself could be realigned to allow for any future redevelopment of Ipswich Town’s Cobbold Stand
Mr Cook added it was “hard to give a date” for the whole project to come to fruition, but it would be “three to four years away, but that’s a guess at the moment”.
Links: http://www.ipswichstar.co.uk/news/24178211.council-goes-ahead-plans-new-ipswich-swimming-pool
Links: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx9z7dqlyqyo
Links: Ipswich Borough Executive Papers: https://democracy.ipswich.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=135&MId=3254&Ver=4
TOM HUNT MP and DAN POULTER MP VISIT TO BROOMHILL POOL.
Broomhill Pool enjoys full cross-party and great public support.
The Trust was delighted to welcome Tom Hunt MP (Ipswich), Dan Poulter MP (Central Suffolk & North Ipswich), and Cllr Ian Fisher to the pool today.
Discussions focused on the planning application for the pool, transport, parking, and infrastructure. Community engagement events will commence in the near future.
The Trust will continue to lobby our MPs and local politicians at borough and county level, to ensure that the area is best equipped. To ensure that the pool fits back into its local environment, and that the project is an asset and source of pride for all Ipswich.
More photos at https://www.facebook.com/BroomhillPoolTrust/posts/pfbid02uQX2us2VnGP335kKhm4w7kaR3S8uzBS6bPZ8gCS1mdhFkGSTrtsdfW3td3xXyhANl
Here comes the Sun. Broomhill makes the nationals.
Ryan Gray reports: A DISUSED water attraction in the UK is set to reopen following the announcement of a £10million refurbishment.
When the summer arrives and sunny days return, people up and down the country will be heading to their local lido to cool down.
One place where that hasn’t been possible since 2002 is in Ipswich, where Broomhill open air swimming pool has been closed for 22 years.
However, that’s set to change soon with funding secured for a £10m redevelopment of the pool.
Once reopened it will have its original “characteristic feel” as well as some new facilities for users to make the most of.
The plans include the return of the diving boards and the grandstand next to the pool, while a health and well being centre will also be built.
See the full report at:
BBC Suffolk: Restoration of Ipswich’s Broomhill lido back on track
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-68304290
A planning application for the restoration of “one of Britain’s finest lidos” has been resubmitted.
The Grade II-listed Broomhill Pool in Ipswich closed in 2002. Plans to renovate it have repeatedly stalled due to lack of funding.
In January, Ipswich Borough Council, the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Fusion Lifestyle agreed a deal to save the 1938-built lido.
The council approved an initial planning application in 2017.
The £7.25m restoration scheme was due to start in 2020, but was paused due to the pandemic.
Plans for the site, which is owned by the council, include a gym and studio, as well as renovation of the baby pool, as first reported by the Ipswich Star.
Once complete, the pool will be run by sports and leisure management organisation Fusion Lifestyle and is expected to open to swimmers in the summer of 2026.
Previously, John Cook, a Labour member of Ipswich Borough Council responsible for communities and sport, said the new project would restore the lido to “its former glory”.
The Broomhill Pool Trust, a charity which has campaigned for the lido’s restoration for more than 20 years, described the funding deal as “news to lift the spirits of the whole town”.
IPSWICH STAR REPORTS: Plans submitted to restore 1930s Broomhill Lido in Ipswich
https://www.ipswichstar.co.uk/news/24119170.plans-submitted-restore-1930s-broomhill-lido-ipswich/
Plans have been submitted to restore Ipswich’s Broomhill Lido weeks after it secured the funding it needed to bring the historic pool back to public use.
Leisure and sports management company Fusion Lifestyle have put in plans to Ipswich Borough Council for the site on Sherrington Road, off Norwich Road.
The plans include the restoration of the entrance kiosk – with ticket office and one half as a heritage exhibition space – to closely replicate the art deco style in which it was first built, including a replica clock tower to match the original.
There will also be an outdoor café, repurposed from the previous buffet building, with a re-fitted kitchen serving snacks, ice creams, teas and coffees.
Also in the planning application is a new health and wellbeing centre, providing a gym, fitness studio, changing rooms and accessible changing spaces rooms, refreshment area with vending machines, and first aid space.
It will be designed in a similar style to the 1930s original building, but will “remain identifiable as a new element”.
The pool will be repaired, existing changing rooms demolished to make way for the fitness suite building, and the kiosk, below-ground changing areas, groundstand, and buffet building will be restored.
The plans do not vary from the planning application previously approved in 2019. The project was due to start in 2020, but the Covid pandemic resulted in the shelving of the scheme and planning permission expired due to the impact of nation lockdowns.
The plans were received on Monday, February 12.
Since then there have been nearly two years of talks and campaigning, which resulted in an agreement at the end of last year.
Broomhill Lido was built in the 1930s and opened in April 1938. The building was listed Grade II in 2001, but has remained derelict and in a state of disrepair since closing in 2002.
The pool is expected to open again to swimmers in the summer of 2026.
North West Ipswich BLT SURVEY: LIVE in the NW of Ipswich. Care about NW Ipswich. Your voice counts!
North West Ipswich BLT SURVEY: LIVE in the NW of Ipswich. Care about NW Ipswich. Your voice counts!
The North West Big Local Trust is asking for your views about this part of Ipswich.
Survey Link: https://www.allcounted.com/s?did=3oa5zfxin5oah&page=7
The BLT Partnership also has around £250,000 of funding available to be spent in this area/for this area. So if you are part of small local groups, or need community funding, its worth exploring further.
Broomhill Pool, Park, and Library are also key assets that serve this part of town. Supplementary funding may be required to fully refurbish and modernise the Pool’s iconic Wicksteed Diving Stage. Local funding like this could make a significant difference. So, please respond and let the BLT know what you want in NW Ipswich.
Survey questions:
- What do you like about NW Ipswich
- What do you dislike about NW Ipswich
- What would you really like to see happen in North West Ipswich?
- How do you currently find out about what is happening in North West Ipswich?
- If £250,000 could be spent in North West Ipswich, what would YOU like to spend it on to benefit the whole community?
- Does a project, group or oganisation in North West Ipswich need support? Let us know below.
BBC Suffolk Reports: 33-time English Channel swimmer has expressed his delight at news that an “iconic” lido is to reopen.
Broomhill Pool Trust President, Mike Read MBE, a 33-time English Channel swimmer has expressed his delight at news that an “iconic” lido is to reopen.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-67959970
The Grade II-listed Broomhill Pool in Ipswich closed in 2002, but Michael Read has been campaigning for the reopening for several years.
A funding deal has been agreed which will see the pool reopen in 2026, after numerous previous delays.
Mr Read said: “It’s an absolutely iconic part of Ipswich.”
A £7.25m restoration starting in 2020 was paused due to the pandemic.
Plans to restore and reopen the Grade II listed Broomhill Pool were put on hold due to the pandemic.
A funding deal has now been struck between stakeholders Ipswich Borough Council, National Lottery Heritage Fund and Fusion Lifestyle.
Mr Read, of the Broomhill Pool Trust, said: “It’s been my life for nearly 50 years now. I swam in the pool for 30 years, and for the last 20, I have been campaigning to save it.
“It’s an absolutely iconic part of Ipswich, and even of Suffolk. It is the most wonderful pool.”
Mr Read said seeing “such a wonderful pool” in its current state made him feel depressed. The new plans will include a fitness centre, adding to what the trust says is one of “Britain’s finest lidos”.
“It is 50 metres long and has the deepest diving point in East Anglia,” Mr Read said.
“It was the home of thousands of children for 50 years. Open air swimming has become so popular, I’m sure once people realise that the pool is open again, they will flock to it.
“When asked about Broomhill, people often say ‘gosh, I met my girlfriend there’, ‘I had my first kiss there’ or ‘I swam my first length there’.
“It was an absolutely wonderful place.”
Seeing the pool in its current state, Mr Read said: “It used to make me feel fairly depressed, but this wonderful news, that the pool can be restored raises my spirits, and I hope it raised every body else’s.”
John Cook said that Broomhill was a place for “generations” of people in Ipswich learning to swim.
John Cook, a Labour member on Ipswich Borough Council responsible for communities and sport, said: “The Broomhill Pool Trust have worked really hard to bring everything together.
“The council, from the start, had a determination to get the pool open.
“We recognise this is an iconic building. Generations of Ipswich youngsters learned to swim here.
“We can have a great facility which the people of Ipswich can be proud of.”
Broomhill Pool Trust 