MP calls for lido to be reintroduced in town
PA MediaA petition has been started calling for a town to have its own lido.
Mike Reader, the Labour MP for Northampton South, said an outdoor pool would bring the community together and give families an affordable and healthy day out.
Northampton had a lido, but it closed in the early 1980s and the site was turned into a car park.
On his petition, Reader called on the government to "assess the feasibility of a new lido for Northampton, including potential sites, funding options and delivery partners".
"For generations, towns and cities across the country have enjoyed outdoor swimming pools that bring communities together, support healthy, active lifestyles, and give families an affordable place to spend time outdoors in the summer months," he said.
"Northampton has no such place and it's time that changed."
Reader said such a facility would be a boost to the local economy and "would create a genuine community landmark, somewhere for families, friends and clubs to gather, just as lidos have done in towns across the UK for over a century".
He added: "A dedicated government funding contribution, like schemes that have supported leisure and swimming facilities elsewhere in the country, would give this project the best chance of getting off the ground."
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Michael Wood, assistant professor in sport management at the University of Northumbria, has been researching lidos and is calling for them to be brought back.
He said at their peak in the 1950s and 60s there were more than 300 open across the country, but that had dwindled to an estimated 125.
In the 1960s, government policy switched to supporting indoor pools, because lidos tended to be seasonal, particularly because of the heating technology available at the time.
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