Our Story

The Beccles Lido community led project’s primary aim was to save the open-air swimming pool in Beccles, a much loved local amenity; and to use innovative “green” technology wherever possible to help save money and the environment, and to create a sustainable, profitable enterprise.

Despite a 3 year campaign to save the pool by the community, Waveney District Council shut it at the end of 2008. In 2009, supporters of the pool persuaded the Council that the community should be given the chance to take over the repair and operation of the pool on a not-for-profit basis.

With Green Streets’ help, the community has saved the pool! They raised £150,000 so far themself, and through Green Streets are now generating energy more efficiently as well as conserving energy, which has significantly reduced running costs and emissions.

Solar photovoltaic (PV) panels have been installed to both generate electricity as well as benefit from the Governments’ feed in tarriffs, and are generating cash to offset against any remaining...

Read Full Story cash to offset against any remaining energy bills.

In addition, as part of the project 27 local households are benefitting from the installation of smart meters, loft and cavity wall insulation, new boilers and solar PV.

THIS IS HOW THEIR JOURNEY BEGAN

Becclesians had been swimming by the River Waveney for 150 years; and in 1959, Beccles had built an outdoor swimming pool which had been enjoyed by Becclesians ever since.

But Beccles Open Air Swimming Pool had suffered from under investment for a number of years, with a consequent decline in use. Open for only 13 weeks in the summer, it was losing up to £70,000 each season. With the need for significant capital investment in the site and the expected continued need for significant revenue support, Waveney District Council could no longer afford to run the pool. At the end of the 2008 season, Waveney District Council announced that unless an alternative body stepped forward to manage the pool it would not open again. And yet even in 2008 it had been used by nearly 10,000 swimmers, and remained a much loved community facility.

The community had already set up the Friends of Beccles Open Air Swimming Pool and we had campaigned to save the pool since 2006. Our view was that if a longer term plan was implemented the pool could not only be saved but improved, that visitors would increase and that the pool could be viable. We had been raising funds, at first on a small scale to fund small improvements to the pool, such as a giant inflatable. It soon became clear that the wider community in Waveney wanted to save the pool, and fund raising events and donations in 2008 topped £5,000.

The combination of the above led to us creating Beccles Lido Limited whose vision was to create a destination facility – Beccles Lido, where local people, visitors and tourists would want to visit and where bathers could have fun, keep fit or just relax in the beautiful surroundings of the river Waveney. Beccles Lido Limited was set up as a company limited by guarantee (to protect its Directors) and is now a registered charity. During 2009 over £40,000 was raised, and all of a sudden it seemed that our vision might be able to be turned into a reality. Following several presentations to Waveney District Council, we convinced them that Beccles Lido Limited should be given the opportunity to prove that we could acquire and manage the pool.

There were several reasons why the number of swimmers, and with them revenue, had declined in recent years. One of the primary reasons was thought to be the general un-attractiveness of the site. A six foot high security fence immediately around the pool gave the impression of swimming in a cage and reduced the attractiveness of the entire site. The removal of the diving boards had taken away another reason for some to come to the pool. The inflexible opening hours, with closure at lunchtime at weekends and closure during warm sunny Septembers, certainly was not helping to entice people to the pool. Once in the pool, there was little by way of café facilities to generate additional revenue or persuade them to stay beyond their swim.

This combined with the overall inefficiency of the site – old heating plant and pumps, little insulation, leaking pipes and pool structure – meant that the water cost too much to heat, expensively heated water then leaked away, meaning more water had to be paid for then heated again, expensively! The pool is 100 feet x 50 feet with a 12 feet deep end – that’s big! And a lot of water to heat, then lose and re-heat again!

We formulated a plan to improve the site – the location of the swimming pool on the banks of the River Waveney had never really been exploited; a derelict canoe shed and conifer hedge obscured views to the river; the security fence around the pool had to go! Could we restore the diving boards? Get a slide? But the plan also had to make the Lido more efficient, sustainable even! New boilers were required, maybe even renewable energy, such as a ground source heating system? The leaks had to be fixed. The pool needed a cover to retain the precious heat from the water. Could Solar PV generate the electricity that we needed?

But all of this needed lots of money! The Council had estimated maybe £100,000 just to repair the infrastructure! We set about applying for grants to raise what seemed like an extraordinary amount of money; but the reality was: we knew we would need even more! A lot more!

Then we chanced upon the British Gas Green Streets programme. Was this the answer we had been looking for? Cash beyond our dreams and we hoped advice on which measures would make most sense for us. And luckily, with our supporter database of many hundreds, no shortage of willing volunteers to participate in the domestic part of the project.

We made our bid – we thought it was a good one! But while shortlisted for the regionals, our bid had too many uncertainties and we were not selected. But luckily the judges saw that we had the basis of a fantastic project, and like the Council they saw that we had the enthusiasm and resources to deliver what would be an incredible success story. We were selected as a wild card in December 2009 and our journey along the Green Streets began ...

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