End of outdoor swimming pool at city school

An unusual outdoor swimming pool at a Herefordshire school is being filled in and put to new use as part of an upgrade of its facilities.

Herefordshire Council approved spending of up to £166,730 on work at the Bishop of Hereford’s Bluecoat School in Tupsley, the money coming from a “section 106” agreement with housing developers.

The first part of the work involves infilling the four-lane pool and removing the adjacent plant room and sheds – “bringing an unused space back into use and providing additional outdoor social and recreation area”, the council’s decision said.

Three tenders from local firms were received for the work, of which the lowest, by Hereford firm Owen Pell, was chosen.

A schedule of the work says it began on July 22 and is due to complete on Friday August 30 in time for the start of the new term on Wednesday September 4.

Further work, using any unspent money, will replace a single storey extension to the main gymnasium with a larger “multi-use studio space”, also of one storey – but this has yet to be granted planning permission.

The funding arises from conditions attached to two housing developments first approved a decade ago – the 51-home Orchard Vale scheme in Bartestree and the 30-home Quarry Field development in Lugwardine.