Grange Lido project given financial boost

The Grange Lido project is to see the lido site made 'safe, stable and accessible' and will include 'repairing and rejuvenating' of the promenade, including the children's playground.

Additional funding of £1.8m for the scheme – taking its total cost to £6.8m – was approved unanimously by a full meeting of the district council on Tuesday evening.

Cllr Jonathan Brook, leader of South Lakeland District Council (SLDC), said 'inflationary pressures' had made it necessary to return to the council to request more financial input.

Grange Lido has been unused for decades (Image: Archive)

He said the plan was for work to commence on the project in February. 

But Cllr Tom Harvey said he had 'real reservations' about the schedule proposed. 

"We are talking 12 weeks away, including Christmas and New Year," he said.

"The chances of it coming to fruition in that sort of timescale, I think sadly it is extremely slim."

Cllr Brook said: "We have a contractor that has worked with us throughout this process, and they stand ready to submit a tender."

READ MORE: Lido project set for £1.8m boost

Cllr John Holmes said he was disappointed at the time it had taken for plans for the lido to progress.

"We have been talking about this scheme now for almost four years," he said.

Cllr Brook said: "I have to agree that the project has taken a lot longer than any of us would have liked.

"We are working on a very complex programme."

Cllr Peter Thornton emphasised the urgency of the project.

"If we don't spend this money now, it's never going to get any cheaper," he said.

"We need to get on with it, we need to get it done."

Cllr Giles Archibald said: "This is surely one of the great achievements, if we can finally wrestle this problem to the ground.

"Thirty years it's been bothering us."

Optimism was expressed that campaign group Save Grange Lido would manage to take the project one step further and have a pool reinstated at the site. 

Cllr Janette Jenkinson said: "I'm a strong believer that we [the council] should have done it, but I do hope that they succeed and I wish them well."

An SLDC spokesman said after the meeting: "SLDC continues to remain open to exploring long-term and sustainable offers for the operating of the site as a pool."

He said that, following construction work, members of the public would have full access to the seating terraces that overlooked the central pool space.