London Fields Lido closure halted amid concern over plans to end gender segregation
London Fields Lido. Photograph: Peter Smith (Wikicommons)
The planned temporary closure of London Fields Lido so that “urgent” maintenance can be carried out has been put on ice.
But the council is still warning that the popular facility could be summarily shut at short notice in the coming months so that work can be undertaken to “stabilise areas that may be at risk of failure”.
The announcement came as several members of Better, the contractor which operates the pool, told the Hackney Citizen they were not informed about public consultation events regarding changing facilities and other design issues.
Hackney Council said letters about the consultation meetings were sent out to all Better members – and Councillor Jon Burke, who is in charge of leisure in the borough, said some users had expressed concerns about plans to convert the current changing rooms into a “changing village”.
He added: “Female lido users, in particular, noted a preference for gender segregated facilities.”
He said he had asked architects to draw up a new design for the changing rooms that maintained separate male and female changing areas.
However, it is understood some unisex cubicles will also be provided indoors.
Currently all indoor changing facilities at the lido are gender specific. However, there are some outdoor unisex changing cubicles.
Cllr Burke said: “Once the revised design has been developed, we will provide members with a copy of the scheme and an opportunity to provide feedback any final comments. Following this process, we will be able appoint a contractor and announce a start-date for the proposed works.”
Useful suggestions have been received for more outdoor showers, a poolside sauna and the use of solar panels to heat the lido, he added.
“Given the complexity and planning requirements of a sauna and renewable energy at the lido, we will explore these proposals as part of future works,” he said.
The lido had been expected to close this month and to remain out of bounds to swimmers until next spring.
Why has this article not mention that the (some) women also wanted the communal aspects of female changing areas. This is very much part of the social and community experiences wanted by women.
That would be my thoughts Jane. The whole thing is about chatting and socialising as much as swimming and you cant stand around in mixed changing areas chatting
How can the Council say it has consulted Better members when none I have talked to have recieved notification of the consultation, or indeed, been informed of the results of the aforementioned consultation.
This looks like a section of Hackney Council wishes to follow an equality agenda, without asking members if they want to have it applied, and now are backtracking as more and more Better members object (which I assume they would have done if they had known about the consultation and/or its results).
From my understanding, this ending of gender segregation is to be applied to all leisure facilities run by Better, so in essence, all of Hackney’s gyms, pools etc. I don’t think there has been any consultation on these Borough wide plans, as, I assume, there would be many objections coming from different ares of Hackney, not just London Lido.
Me neither. I have not been aware of any consultation about ending gender segregation at London Fields lido. I fear that it is a narrow interpretation of the Equality agenda if that indeed is their objective.
hardly surprising the council would try to sneak in changes like this, under the guise of ‘essential maintenance’. makes you wonder what else gets passed in secrecy…