Council agrees £105k funding for Buntingford swimming pool reopening
The Ward Freman Swimming Pool closed in December 2023
A community group that is set to reopen a Buntingford swimming pool will receive £105,000 from East Herts Council, it has been confirmed.
At a meeting of the council’s executive on Tuesday (June 2), councillors agreed to provide the money to support the Ward Freman Community Pool Group’s work ahead of a hoped-for October reopening.
East Herts Council’s executive member for financial sustainability, Cllr Carl Brittain, said the money from the authority’s Executive Priority Reserve would “enable the essential works to go ahead as soon as possible”, and could be followed by a further £28,800 towards an air handling unit.
He said the pool will be “a highly valued facility to the residents of Buntingford and the surrounding area”. He added: “The pool group have done a tremendous job to bring this project this far, and I’m delighted to propose that we support them with this funding allocation.”
The Ward Freman Swimming Pool, which was managed by East Herts Council and owned by Hertfordshire County Council, closed in December 2023 when the authorities decided maintenance costs exceeded what they could afford.
Since then, the Ward Freman Community Group has raised more than £250,000 to help renovate and maintain the pool.
Members recently bought it for £1 from Hertfordshire County Council and have already brought in contractors to complete necessary works ahead of the reopening.
Previous estimates suggested a full update of the pool would cost £1m, with a more limited renovation – replacing broken tiles, replacing expansion joints and repairing the filtration system – expected to cost around £400,000.
Cllr Sarah Hopewell, East Herts Council’s executive member for wellbeing, praised the community group’s work and said they could “raise funds in a way that councils are not able to”.
She continued: “There are lots of charitable grants that are not available to councils that are available to charities.
“There are also opportunities around in-kind support, and the pool group has already done a fantastic job of getting pro bono support for their architectural designs, for website hosting and providing reconditioned equipment for the pool.”