Regeneration of Queens Leisure Centre, Derby

Dear Jonathan
Please could you reconsider the decision to permanently close Queens Leisure Centre, Derby. The city is very short of swimming facilities for a city its size. Whilst the opening of the new Moorways Swimming Pool is very welcome it's location means that most of Derby's citizens would find it very difficult to access unless they are fortunate enough to own a car. In any case, in the face of a global climate crisis we should be discouraging people from using their cars not encouraging it. Public transport in Derby tends to be radial and so getting to Moorways by bus would be complicated and costly. It is essential that the city centre retains some sort of swimming facility not just for public health reasons but also for attracting visitors.

It is widely acknowledged that Queens Leisure centre is in desperate need of a refurbishment and this puts a number of potential customers off using it. So our proposal is that this site is regenerated to a high quality and run by a private operator who is under a contractual obligation with the council to provide affordable lane swimming to the general public. The Gala pool should be retained and refurbished as it is a heritage asset to the city. The other, later buildings should be demolished and replaced with high quality spa facilities which the operator can make money from and make the whole facility financially self sustaining. Additional features should be added such as a heated rooftop pool with views over the Cathedral Quarter, steam rooms and a restaurant specialising in healthy meals. These features would turn the Queens Leisure Centre into a visitor attraction within the city centre and add to the list of things to do whilst in Derby. The new facility would (in principle) be similar to the Thermae Spa in Bath...https://www.thermaebathspa.com/

Thank you for your time

Mike Wingfield