Old swimming pool demolition approved for flats plan

Plans to demolish a former council-run swimming pool building in Oadby and replace it with retirement homes have been approved.

Developer Churchill Retirement Living wants to knock down the disused pool, in Leicester Road, to make way for a four-storey complex with 52 apartments and two adjacent cottages.

Oadby and Wigston Borough Council owns the site but intends to sell it.

Councillors on the authority's development control committee granted planning permission for the scheme when they met on Thursday.

The approval comes despite objections from a dozen nearby residents who said they were concerned 17 proposed parking spaces would not be enough.

They said they feared vehicles linked to the complex would park on nearby streets causing traffic problems.

Committee members said they shared concerns about parking but said Leicestershire County Council, the highways authority, had not raised any concerns with the scheme.

Chairman of the committee Lee Bentley told the meeting he could see no planning grounds to refuse the application.

He warned that the developer would likely appeal against a refusal and that it was "highly likely" costs would be awarded against the council.

A spokesperson for Churchill Living said redevelopment would "breathe life" into the old swimming pool site.

The committee was told the scheme would provide accommodation needed to house a growing ageing population in the area.

The company also said it was not in its interest to underprovide parking because that would make it harder to sell the flats.

The single-storey pool building closed in 2014 when it was replaced by the nearby Parklands Leisure Centre.

The council has previously said funds raised from the sale of the pool would be invested in a new community hub at nearby Ellis Park.

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