A project to convert a swimming pool in Reading into new affordable homes is now complete.

The Arthur Hill Pool in King’s Road, East Reading has successfully been repurposed to provide 15 one-bedroom apartments for people who serve the public.

The pool was closed in 2016 despite opposition from the Save Arthur Hill Pool campaign.

Work on the conversion project has been ongoing since 2021, which involved the conversion of the entrance building and the demolition of the pool for replacement extensions.

The new homes have been reserved for ‘key workers’, which include nurses, social workers, teachers, police officers and those in the public sector.

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The apartments have been made available through affordable rent for key workers on the council’s housing register.

Celebrating the completion of the project, Ellie Emberson (Labour, Coley), lead councillor for housing, said: “Key workers play such an essential role in our society and it is hugely rewarding to see the Council provide 15 affordable homes here in Reading.

“We of course knew the former Arthur Hill pool site was of historical importance for people, so to be able to preserve its façade whilst providing crucial, high quality and affordable homes for our key workers is something which we’re proud of.”

At the time when the council’s Labour administration decided to close the pool and repurpose it for housing, campaigners argued that people in the area would be left without swimming facilities for years on end.

Residents in East Reading were left without pool facilities in the area for six years from Arthur Hill Pool’s closure in December 2016 to the opening of the Palmer Park swimming pool in December 2022.

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The council has touted energy-saving and heat retention measures added to the new flats, involving the installation of triple glazing, air source heat pumps and solar panels on the roof.

Cllr Emberson said: “As with all our housing developments, this is another example of our continued response to the climate emergency and the cost of living crisis by helping our residents deal with energy costs.

“We aim to keep up the momentum by continuing to provide even more affordable homes for people in Reading.”

The completion of the repurposing of Arthur Hill Pool into housing will be celebrated in a ribbon cutting ceremony by cllr Tony Page (Labour, Abbey), the Mayor of Reading, on Thursday, January 18.

The project forms part of the council’s ambition to provide 400 affordable new homes between 2021 and 2025.

The council’s planning applications committee a approved project for affordable homes and social care facilities at the Central Pool site in Battle Street last year, with its Labour administration arguing that swimming pools have been provided at the new Palmer Park and Rivermead leisure centres.