Results from the Ilkley Pool and Lido Community Group survey

Sunday, 2 June 2024 17:00

Over 700 people have responded to the Ilkley Pool and Lido Community Group survey to understand the usage of Ilkley Pool and Lido.

Ilkley Pool and Lido is under review as part of the huge cost savings Bradford Council has to make in the coming years, along with all swimming pools across the Bradford district.

The Ilkley Pool and Lido Community Group website says it's "a group of committed Ilkley residents are developing proposals to secure the long term future of the site and facilities through Partnership with Bradford BMDC or community ownership of the pool, lido and grounds."

Now the survey has closed the group has commented on the results: "745 people who use the Ilkley Pool and Lido responded to our survey to review usage and to gather ideas for bridging the 280K funding gap. Lots of the respondents came from outside Ilkley showing how popular the Pool and Lido are for people from the surrounding area. In addition lots of Ilkley people also travelled to other pools (primarily Skipton) because of the better quality facilities.

The main areas where people thought there could be real improvements were:

1. The indoor pool open from 6am and longer at weekends

2. The Lido open longer and for a longer season.

3. A cafe serving better coffee and food, open for the indoor pool users and to passing trade.

4. Online booking so that entry is guaranteed on busy days, and to manage flow and increase utilisation

5. At minimum cleaner changing rooms and a ‘no shoes’ policy. A modular changing room as a plan for the future. Outdoor changing for the Lido.

6. More events, to make the Lido a destination for a wider audience.

7. Better marketing – even survey respondents didn’t know about opening and season tickets

8. Unlink the Lido and Pool tickets, it will increase usage

"These results have been sent to Bradford Council to inform the review, and you can see the full results here. The Pool and Lido staff are already putting some of the ideas into practice."