Council looking to set up ‘net-zero pod’ at leisure centre

A council is seeking permission to set up a ‘net-zero pod’ at a Bury St Edmunds leisure centre.

Bury St Edmunds Leisure Centre
Author: Joao SantosPublished 6th Oct 2025

A council is seeking permission to set up a ‘net-zero pod’ at a town’s leisure centre.

Malcom Fleming, program manager at West Suffolk Council, has submitted a bid to planning officers for a decarbonisation project at Abbeycroft Leisure Centre, in Beetons Way, Bury St Edmunds.

The project would see a net-zero pod installed at the site to remove all fossil fuel usage from the leisure centre.

It is being paid for by a successful funding bid from the Government’s Public Sector Decarbonisation Fund.

Leisure Energy, the company behind the pod, has delivered similar decarbonisation projects across the country as a ‘unique, innovative and highly efficient’ solution for decarbonisation.

The pod itself is a prepackaged plant room utilising air-source heat pumps, delivered to the site as a whole.

An energy substation would be placed at the leisure centre’s car park, near an existing substation.

Two parking spots would be lost.

The application is now being consulted on by planners, with a final decision expected by November 24.

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