Droitwich and Buxton next for spa redevelopment

Droitwich and Buxton could be the next British spas earmarked for redevelopment.

Water pumped from rock salt deposits beneath Droitwich is three times as saline as the Dead Sea, delivering an exceptional degree of buoyancy.

Visitors can still bathe in the brine pool at the BMI Droitwich Spa Hospital in the afternoons, but demand has led the district council to fast-track plans to redevelop the town’s derelict 1930s lido. The Lido Spa Park could include indoor and outdoor bathing facilities, steam rooms, saunas and treatment rooms.

The council has granted a development consortium an option on the project until the end of the year to produce a fully designed, costed and operational plan. It is hoped the new spa will open by spring 2006.

Plans to redevelop Buxton Spa are also on the drawing board, as High Peak Borough Council and Derbyshire County Council consider bids by two shortlisted developers. The project will include the reopening of the town’s thermal mineral water baths, a hotel in St Ann’s Crescent, a new visitor attraction and a tourist information centre.

The councils, backed by English Heritage and the Heritage Lottery Fund, will announce their preferred developer in late August/early September. Detailed planning should take place in 2003/2004, with work scheduled to begin in 2005 and 2007.