A PLANNING application has been submitted for a scheme to make the derelict Grange Lido site stable, safe and accessible.
South Lakeland District Council’s planning committee will consider planning approval for the project to stabilise the buildings and carry out structural repairs. Listed building consent will also be required.
SLDC’s Cabinet gave approval in January to pursue the “light-touch” refurbishment, including landscaping and other work on the site which would not preclude any future use of the pool.
The plans would also create a new multi-use public space for the local community and visitors, as well as landscaping and public realm improvements.
Grange Lido was constructed in 1932 and remained open for 61 years until its closure in 1993 due to a combination of low usage and increasing operational and repair costs.
In February, SLDC’s Full Council approved capital expenditure of £960,000 in 2019/20 and £1m in 2020/21 for the project. An estimated £1.3million is needed to stabilise all the structures, including the sea wall, on the site, while £700,000 is needed to refurbish the buildings for access and bring them up to a standard so that they might be put back in to use and create in income to help maintain the site; make all areas of the site open to the public, including the diving platform; give access to the vast majority of the site for those who are less mobile; open up views to Morecambe Bay from the terraces along the edge of the site; and add an appropriate infill to the pool, that does not preclude any future use of the pool.
More details about the application can be found in the “planning and building” section of SLDC’s website at www.southlakeland.gov.uk – application reference SL/2019/0803.
