Construction of new community pool at Palmer Park begins

Major work to construct a modern new 25 metre, 6-lane community pool at Palmer Park is set to begin, as part of the second phase of the project.

Construction on the new pool is the next key milestone in the Council’s £40M investment in modern leisure facilities for the town, including delivering two brand new pools, a modern leisure centre and improvements to existing leisure facilities, by spring 2023.

It follows the first phase of works which began in August to create the new overflow carpark / coach drop off, which is now ready for public use.

From the end of this week, as well as major work beginning on the construction of the new swimming pool, work also begins on changes to the existing entrance and the creation of the new café and information hub space.

The new community pool and facilities will open to the public in late 2022. At Palmer Park, in addition to the refurbishment of the existing stadium building, there will be:

• A new 25 metre, 6-lane community pool
• A 100-station gym
• An activity zone for children with party rooms
• And a new café and information hub.

With the new overflow carpark / coach drop off, which is now in use, visitors should note new parking charges will apply from 1 November to help manage capacity at the parking area. The first 3 hours will be free for leisure users (cars must be registered) and charged at 50p per hour thereafter (with a 7-hours max stay). There will be no parking permitted between midnight to 6 am. Signage will be in place at the car park detailing these changes.

The recycling bank facilities at this location are still available but have moved to a new location just before entering the new car park.

The plans for the community pool at Palmer Park, independently assessed to achieve an ‘Excellent’ rating, have been submitted to the Building Research Establishment (BRE) this month, which is the longest established environmental assessment method and rating system for buildings and evidence the pool will be built to high levels of sustainable design and energy usage.

Work started on the Rivermead site on 31 August. The new Rivermead facilities will include a new leisure centre with a 25m 8-lane competition pool and a combined teaching and diving pool. Work will start shortly on improvements at South Reading Leisure Centre and in the new year at Meadway Leisure Centre.

For regular updates on the leisure project visit www.better.org.uk/new-reading-leisure  or follow the Council on social media @ReadingCouncil Twitter, Facebook and Instagram or GLL at @Better_Reading