Repair work begins ahead of swimming pool reopening in Buntingford
A community group bought it from Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) for £1
Work has begun on repairing Buntingford’s swimming pool after a community group bought it from Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) for £1.
The Ward Freman Swimming Pool, which was managed by East Herts Council (EHC) and owned by for HCC, closed in December 2023 when the authorities decided the costs to maintain it exceeded what they could pay.
Since then, the Ward Freman Community Group has raised more than £250,000 to help renovate and maintain it.
The group hopes to have the pool open again by the end of this year and trustee Philip Wylie said: “We’ve already got contractors in working on the tiling, we’ve already got the water back on again… it’s moving quite fast.”
He said the group were “ecstatic” to have purchased the freehold for the pool, and added that fundraising efforts would continue to help support its future.
Previous estimates suggested a full update of the pool would cost £1m, with a more limited renovation – replacing broken tiles, replacing boilers and repairing the filtration system – expected to cost around £400,000.
Future updates to the 1970-built pool could include new lighting, changing rooms and a café.
Sarah Hopewell, EHC’s executive member for wellbeing, paid tribute to the “determination” of the community group and said their purchase of the pool’s freehold was “a really positive step”.
The district council has already agreed £130,000 from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund towards the cost of reopening and could agree a further £105,000 from its executive priority reserve at a meeting on Tuesday (June 2).
Cllr Hopewell said: “We’re all really excited for them and hoping for a positive outcome for Tuesday’s meeting.”
Chris Lucas, HCC’s executive member for resources and performances, said the new ownership would “safeguard the pool and its facilities for the local community and people of Hertfordshire for years to come”.