SCREENWRITER and Kenilworth resident Andrew Davies has given his support to the campaign to restore the town’s lido.
Mr Davies, best known for adapting tv period dramas such as Pride & Prejudice and Middlemarch, sent an email to The Restore Kenilworth Lido campaign group.
He wrote: “The open air pool is one of the things that makes Kenilworth special. We first went there with our children 50 years ago. I cannot believe the council wants to close it. Who wants to swim indoors when the sun is shining? I heartily support the campaign for Kenilworth’s Lido”.
Warwick District Council approved design work on proposals in January to build a new indoor pool as part of a major overhaul of both the swimming pool and Castle Farm Recreation Centre in the town – at a cost of up to £24million.
The council says an indoor pool would meet the ‘substantial demand’ locally for more swimming lessons and during the summer could be ‘opened up’ onto an adjoining new terrace.
But new council leader Andrew Day has promised to look again at the plans for the swimming pool.
He said : “I want to see Kenilworth getting something great. We are doing research into a lido. I suspect a study would show an heated outdoor pool or lido would create a lot of CO2 which is against my main priority but we will see what the research lays out.”
* Artist and Kenilworth resident Karen Pittaway has signed a limited set of prints of her painting of what 21st century outdoor and indoor swimming in Abbey Fields might look like. These are available to buy at Kenilworth Books in Talisman Square and Tree House Bookshop in The Square for £5. All funds raised will support the work of the campaign group.
Visit www.restorekenilworthlido.org.uk for further details.