IT was disappointing to see misinformation circulated in East Oxford recently about “Blackbird Leys Pool, which the council is building without any insulation”.

I’m happy to reassure readers this isn’t the case.

To quote the plans the city council has approved (and please forgive the techno-speak): “What insulation standard will the development be built to? The building envelope will be designed where appropriate to better the minimum requirements of Approved Document Part L2A 2010. For example, the crank wall to the south elevation will have the same highly insulated thermal performance as the roof.

“The U-values proposed for the development are as a minimum 25 per cent better than the limiting fabric parameters of the approved document.”

Anyone interested can find this online through the council’s planning portal, using reference 11/00242/CT3, selecting the item at the bottom of the list and then going to “Natural Resource Impact Analysis”.

There are also details there of the combined heat and power unit, biomass boiler and pool covers we’re installing to further reduce energy use.

The new Blackbird Leys pool will have insulation and machinery intelligently designed to minimise carbon emissions and running costs, and we’re aiming for it to be one of the first in Britain to get a BREEAM “excellent” rating for environmental sustainability.

Mike Rowley, executive member for leisure services, Oxford City Council

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