Six rooftop heat pumps for Dulwich Leisure Centre drew 32 objections and no support. Two noise studies disagree, and the grant behind it must be spent by March.
Southwark Council’s plan to put six air source heat pumps on the roof of Dulwich Leisure Centre has drawn 32 objections and no letters of support. The neighbours have paid for their own noise study, and it disagrees sharply with the council’s.
The application is still undecided. Southwark’s planning register lists 68 neighbours consulted, 33 comments, 32 objections and none in support. The council’s own deadline for a decision is 14 October.
The council is both the applicant and the planning authority. The scheme is one of five leisure centre projects paid for largely by a government grant that has to be spent by 31 March 2027.
What the council wants to build
The application, 26/AP/0390, was received on 9 February. It covers:
- six air source heat pumps on the roof, inside acoustic screens
- a new electricity substation
- a dropped kerb, with the cycle parking moved
- new timber windows to the pool hall and gym, built to current insulation standards
The pumps replace the centre’s gas heating. A matching listed building consent application, 26/AP/0391, is needed because the building is listed. The council’s heritage impact assessment records that Dulwich Public Baths was completed in 1892 to designs by Henry Spalding and Alfred W.S. Cross, and listed Grade II in 1993.
Why the pumps are going on the roof
Several objectors asked why the plant cannot go at ground level. The council’s architects, Architype, answered in an April addendum to the application.
- The roof has no other space for the plant.
- The only space outside is the car park beside the listed front on East Dulwich Road.
- Historic England was consulted and recommended the roof of the modern extension, away from the listed parts.
- The centre plans to reopen the historic slipper baths behind that front entrance and open them to the public.
The addendum calls Dulwich “the oldest functioning Public Bath in London”.
Two noise studies, two very different answers
The council’s noise consultant, NOVA Acoustics, is on its sixth revision of the assessment. Several objectors say the first had to be redone after residents spotted errors in it.
Its latest version, dated 31 July, is frank about the unscreened plant. Without mitigation it predicts a “significant adverse impact” at all four nearest groups of homes at night. It also says quieter units “are unable to be procured”. A fully roofed enclosure cannot be fitted either, because the pumps need the airflow.
So the plan is a 3m compound around the pumps:
- two sides solid
- one side an acoustic louvre
- one side and the top left open
With the screens in place, NOVA’s tables still show the noise above the background level at every home it assessed. At night the margin is 7 to 9 decibels, which its own table classes as an “adverse impact” at all four. Between 5.30am and 7am, when four of the units would run, it is 6 decibels at the closest flats.
The consultant then judges the night-time effect on the noise inside bedrooms instead. It estimates the plant noise inside the nearest homes at about 18 to 20 decibels at worst. It concludes the scheme sits between “no observed” and “lowest observed” adverse effect.
Residents of Crystal Palace Road commissioned Peninsular Acoustics to model the same screened scheme. Its August report puts the noise at the closest home 20 decibels above background at night. It finds levels above the “significant observed adverse effect” threshold at every home in every period, except two of the four during the day. It also predicts a “reasonable likelihood” that the low-frequency sound will annoy all the nearest residents.
Peninsular recommends the council look again at:
- moving the plant
- quieter units
- attenuation fitted to the units
- taller, sound-absorbing screens
- a full acoustic enclosure
What the objectors say
The objectors include residents of Tribeca Court, the flats beside the centre, and of houses on Crystal Palace Road. Almost all start by saying they support taking the centre off gas. Their complaints are about where the plant goes. The recurring points:
- a continuous low-frequency hum at night and early in the morning
- not being able to open windows or use roof terraces
- daylight loss from the screens, raised by Tribeca Court residents whose bedrooms face the centre
- doubt that the 5.30am to 7am operating limits can be enforced
- alternatives not tested properly, including the car park, a ground-level spot on East Dulwich Road, and a future district heating link
The council commissioned a daylight report in April. Its addendum says the screened enclosure “will perform well” and that light to the neighbours “will remain adequate”. It adds that no living rooms, kitchens or dining rooms show a change in daylight distribution. It does not say the same of bedrooms, which is what the Tribeca Court objections are about.
The decision has already slipped
In July the planning officer extended the decision date to 14 October, “because the application is to be reported to Committee”.
A council report signed off on 5 August expected that committee on 5 October, today. That has not happened. Dulwich Leisure Centre is not on the agenda for either planning committee this week:
- Major Applications A on 6 October has a single Bermondsey scheme
- Smaller Applications on 7 October has four sites in SE1, SE16 and Walworth Road
The council’s meetings calendar shows no other planning committee before 14 October. Both Dulwich applications still read “Under consideration/assessment”.
The money and the clock
The Dulwich scheme is part of a £12.1m programme to take five council leisure centres off gas: Dulwich, Peckham Pulse, Camberwell, the Castle and Surrey Docks.
- £9.5m comes from the government’s Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme.
- £2.6m is council match funding.
- The grant “must be fully drawn down by 31 March 2027”, and the council is aiming to finish every site by then.
The council has set aside an estimated £203,443 for the professional team to oversee the Dulwich works. Its August report says Dulwich and Camberwell will be “the final projects to be delivered” in this round of funding. No works contract for Dulwich has been let.
The other two centres in our patch are further on.
| Centre | Contract | Value, excluding VAT | Decided | Contract end date in the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peckham Pulse | Alternative Heat Ltd | £2,267,249.96 | 3 August | 30 June 2027 |
| Camberwell Leisure Centre | Alternative Heat Ltd | £2,794,350.20 | 29 September | 27 August 2027 |
Both of those dates fall after the March deadline. The Camberwell report lists spending the grant in time as a medium risk. Its answer is to buy materials in advance of 31 March, so they count towards the claim.
Only two of the five firms invited to bid for Camberwell did so. The others cited stretched resources, the summer timing and the size of the job. The Camberwell decision can be called in until 6 October.
What it means for you
If you swim or train at Dulwich, nothing changes yet, because there is no permission and no contractor. The Peckham Pulse and Camberwell reports show what to expect when it does start. If a whole centre has to shut, the council estimates no more than two weeks in total, in two one-week blocks. It also says no two centres will close at the same time.
If you live near the centre, the application is still open. You can read the noise reports and comment on 26/AP/0390 on the planning register. When it goes to committee, the meeting will be public and the officer’s report will be published with the agenda beforehand. We will report the recommendation when it appears. Other planning decisions are on our Dulwich planning news page.
Sources
- Southwark planning register, 26/AP/0390 and 26/AP/0391, including the comments tab, the time extension letter of 10 July 2026, NOVA Acoustics’ noise impact assessment Rev 06 of 31 July 2026, Architype’s planning application addendum of April 2026, the heritage impact assessment and the Peninsular Acoustics assessment PA1978, all read on 5 October 2026.
- Southwark Council decisions: Gateway 3, leisure decarbonisation employer’s agents (18 September 2026), Gateway 2, Peckham Pulse (3 August 2026) and Gateway 2, Camberwell (29 September 2026), with their reports.
- Southwark’s committee calendar for October 2026 and the agendas for the 6 October and 7 October planning committees.
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