Seven Capital’s application proposes to cover the existing pool dome with a modern ‘skin’, using the same technology as the Eden Project domes in Cornwall.
According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, it also plans to introduce a café, gym, bowling alley and indoor golf as ‘dry side’ facilities.
Seven Capital added the existing sports hall “is not thermally efficient and would need very significant investment to repair and upgrade” and as such, where the sports hall now stands, two all-weather multi-use sports pitches will be laid instead.
But Sport England say the application fails to consider the latest guidance from the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), which states sports facilities, playing fields and buildings should not be built on unless they have been shown to be surplus to requirements, or will be replaced by equal or better provision.