A Portsmouth City Council-led consultation on behalf of the Hilsea Lido Trust has identified eight pledges to the community for the redevelopment of Hilsea Lido and the surrounding area of Hilsea Lines.
The council and Trust are getting the local community involved in designing and developing Hilsea Lines, after receiving £8.75m levelling up funding from the government.
With Hilsea Lido at the heart of the redevelopment, over the spring and summer the council and Hilsea Lido Trust asked residents for their opinions on improvements to the lido.
About 2,000 people responded, by survey or at one of the many community engagement consultation events, to say what they would like to see.
Using residents’ top results, the council has put together eight pledges for Hilsea Lido, which are:
- Open the Lido more often for everyone to enjoy
- Explore the potential of heating at least part of the pool
- Include a food and drink facility
- Provide play equipment and a diverse range of activities and events
- Make the Lido welcoming and accessible to everyone
- Improve shower, toilet and changing facilities
- Create a well-maintained, attractive, and fun facility
- To make the Lido as affordable as possible
The pledges have been given to contractors, Mace and Space-Place, to incorporate within the design plans for the Hilsea Lido and surrounding area, where possible.
Chair of the Hilsea Lido Pool for the People trustees, Sabrina Richards, said. “It was great to hear the feedback from the local community about Hilsea Lido and what they’d like from it in the future. We know that residents have fond memories of the lido, so it was nice to hear that people just want it open for everyone to have fun.
Cllr Steve Pitt, Cabinet Member for Culture, Leisure, and Economic Development said: “Hilsea Lido is a much-loved part of our city’s heritage, so I’m grateful for the opportunity that the levelling up funding has given us to redevelop Hilsea Lines and Hilsea Lido, to provide a visitor attraction for everyone to enjoy, in line with our aims of a happy and healthy city.
“I’m pleased that we’ve been able to get the local community involved in helping to develop the plans for future generations to enjoy and would like to thank everyone who took the time to give us their ideas and opinions, which have been shared with the designers.”
In addition to redeveloping Hilsea Lido, as part of the levelling-up funding we’re creating more accessible and better-connected woodland and green space around Hilsea Lines, to create a visitor attraction that promotes health and wellbeing for everyone to enjoy. The levelling-up funding was a joint bid, with the International Port, to transform Portsmouth’s visitor economy.
