The changing rooms in a refurbished Health Hydro in Milton Road will be separated if a new planning application is approved.

Swindon Borough Council is refurnishing the Grade II*-listed late Victorian Building, and it has applied to its own planning department to change its plans for a unisex changing room area.

The plans consented would have seen one large main area with cubicle for use by individuals constructed.

But several people expressed concern about the plans, and after the elections of May 2023 saw the administration at the council change from Conservative to Labour, the cabinet member in charge vouncillor Marina Strinkovsky announced a rethink.

She said in 2023: “I wasn’t at all happy with the unisex changing rooms and we are in agreement in cabinet that this will be changed. The architects have been brilliant and come up with a design for the change.

“We will be applying for approval of the change in the plan. It’s not uncommon.”

Now that redesign has been submitted for approval and the application says: “In response to stakeholder feedback the Health Hydro changing room layout, which has been approved has been redesigned.

“The purpose of this redesign is to enable changing to be segregated by gender, whilst also maintaining flexibility for different programmatic requirements.”

A heritage assessment of the changes says: “The impacts on the listed building range are minimal and confined to a small area. There is a clear need to upgrade and improve the changing facilities, which is desirable both visually and operationally. The impact would be limited in terms of historic fabric, and in our view it is justified by the overall improvements to the site.

The plans show that at the rear of the building on the ground floor will be constructed two separated changing rooms, both lined with individual cubicles with a shared area in between. A third changing area nearby will feature group changing rooms larger changing pods, and accessible changing room.

There will be two separate lavatory blocks and a fully accessible Changing Places lavatory.

Comments on the plan should be made using the reference S/24/0572 by Monday, August 19.

A decision on the proposal is expected by Wednesday, September 18.