I am the Company Secretary of Save Grange Lido Ltd. It’s pretty clear there is a degree of misunderstanding about our position regarding the restoration of the iconic listed Lido in Grange, and I thought it would help your readers to know what we have proposed to South Lakeland District Council.

We are a committed group of volunteers with a huge support base locally and nationally. For a group of volunteers our achievements are significant.

In the past few months, we have:

l Incorporated as a Community Benefit Society. As a CBS we are well placed to embark on larger fund raising efforts and will in due course apply for registration as a Charity.

l Secured a £6,200 Project Viability Grant from Architectural Heritage Fund (part funded by Historic England).

l Raised matched funding for that grant through donations and merchandise sales.

l Obtained full set of plans for the restored lido from leading architects with expertise in swimming pools – Studio Octopi. The plans include a 50m six lane pool and a 25m heated pool.

l Obtained a quotation for lining of the swimming pool basin, new plant and filtration equipment and heating and the budget cost is £1.2m.

l Started researching funding options to raise the £1.2m. We are confident that raising this money is achievable.

l Assembled a team of experts covering all aspects of the project.

We’re pleased that steps are finally being taken by SLDC to bring the lido back to life but are concerned that the current plans still seem to involve the filling in of the pool and the creation of yet another garden in Grange.

A lido without a pool is not a lido, and I said to the SLDC Cabinet at their meeting on January 23 that no matter how many times the filling in is said to be temporary, we all know that once filled in the pool will be gone forever.

SLDC has kindly agreed to work with us in obtaining a joint report into the feasibility of our business plans and the social and economic impact of those plans. We are confident that the sustainability and viability of our plans will be confirmed by such a report, and that this will cause SLDC to rethink their scheme.

All that this organisation asks of SLDC is that the plans to fill in the pool are put to one side for the time being to enable the report to be obtained and after that to give Save Grange Lido the chance to raise the money needed to restore the pool itself.

This will enable the lido to be reopened as a fully functional lido, bringing enormous benefits to south Cumbria as a whole, and providing SLDC and its residents with an attraction of which we can all be proud.

David Dawson

Pennington

Company Secretary

On behalf of Save Grange Lido Ltd