The City of London Corporation is proposing to make alterations to the existing changing rooms at the Ladies’ Pond. The buildings went up in 2016 but it soon became evident that there were problems with their accessibility and construction. The proposed works are intended to improve accessibility and to resolve some of the persistent problems with damp and drainage. There have been several periods of closure to address serious maintenance issues since 2016.
We are seeking your views on this project which, if it gets planning permission, might be undertaken between November 2022 and May 2023. (This timeframe includes work being undertaken at the Men’s and Mixed Ponds.) We have been assured that it should not be necessary to close the Ladies’ Pond to do this work, but there will be operatives on site during opening hours to carry out the works.
The City is proposing to enlarge the accessible toilet cubicle to include a shower, and this will reduce the size of the main toilet block. They are proposing to remove the back wall of the main toilet block and open up a route directly into the changing rooms, which will mean the loss of one changing cubicle but easier access to the toilets. Some of the hand basin facilities lost due to the removal of the internal wall would need to be mounted on the external wall near the door into the main toilet block. In addition, alterations to the external shower area are being considered which may address some of the damp and drainage problems here.
The KLPA would also like to know your views on the use of changing gazebos in various areas at the Ladies’ Pond.
Please take a look at this diagram and then answer the questions in the brief survey here:
https://klpa.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=0e871ffde380e120f7dffe46c&id=40125e39a7&e=878d13563e
The KLPA survey will be open until 6pm on Tuesday 26 April 2022. We intend to share a report of the survey results with the City i.e. overall percentages and anonymised additional comments (where these help to highlight any particular concerns).
The City is also conducting a survey on these alterations which asks one open-ended question about the proposals at question 4. Please complete the City’s survey too if you have the opportunity.
If you would like to provide more detailed feedback to the City of London Corporation about these proposals, or anything which you think is missing, please email via the addresses below and copy to klpamailbox@gmail.com.
HH-Swimming@cityoflondon.gov.uk
Stefania.Horne@cityoflondon.gov.uk (Heath Superintendent)
Thank you for your input.