The council will be temporarily closing the Ferry Leisure Centre swimming pool to carry out 'decarbonisation works'.

The council has been successful in being awarded a total grant of up to £10.9m from the Public Sector Decarbonisation scheme to carry out decarbonisation works at its largest carbon emitting buildings, including Ferry Pool. in Summertown.

It is hoped this will deliver significant improvements to community facilities, reduce operating costs, improve the customer experience and invest in the lifespan of facilities that help to improve the wellbeing and life chances for Oxford communities and residents.

As part of this work, preliminary surveys were carried out in Ferry Leisure Centre, the main pool hall areas which were built in the 1970s, to see how the building could be upgraded to reduce its carbon emissions.

Asbestos debris was found during intrusive surveys in the pool plant room where the pump and filtration systems are located.

Immediately after the asbestos was discovered the plant room was sealed and staff have only entered if absolutely necessarily and while wearing full PPE equipment. The plant room is only accessible to staff, so the asbestos poses no risk to members of the public, the pool remains perfectly safe for swimmers and staff members.

The City Council is giving advance warning of the need to temporarily close the swimming pool, to carry out the work and to enable the decarbonisation project to be successfully delivered.

The work, which will be carried out by experts in asbestos removal, is expected to take approximately four weeks to complete.

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