Could a city get its new 'people's pool'?

Nearly 90 years ago, a busy lido in Bristol's "people's park" was bombed in the Second World War and closed, seemingly, forever.

But for the past seven years a community group - the Eastville Park Lido CIC - has been working to bring an outdoor pool back to the park and change the narrative that lidos are "not just for white middle class communities".

The group wants to open a new facility on the site of an old bowling green. It has applied to Bristol City Council to transfer stewardship of the site to the community and is waiting for a decision in September.

But while momentum is growing behind the campaign, some residents say the plans could prove a "nightmare" for congestion and environmental concerns.

The community interest company has asked the council for a Community Asset Transfer (CAT) - which transfers stewardship of a publicly-owned site to a community group - of the Old Bowling Green to create the new community lido.

Their plans include a 30-metre heated outdoor swimming pool, sauna and café.

The site would also provide a hireable space for classes, meetings and events, as well as bike storage and would offer dedicated sessions for women and children, LGBTQIA+ groups and disabled swimmers.

The group's director Sarah Moore said they were aiming to make the project sustainable by 2030, but they need the CAT to be approved by the local authority first.

"They make their decision at a meeting mid September[2026] so we will know soon whether we can get a lease on the land and start fundraising," she added.

The BBC approached the council for a comment but they declined to respond due to the pending decision.

Shankari Raj, another director at Eastville Park Lido said the new facility was intended to be a "people's pool", in keeping with the ethos of the park when it opened in 1899.

The pool was part of what was, at the time, Bristol's largest public green space and deliberately designed to meet the needs of working people who could not reach parks in more affluent parts of the city.

Raj added that a new lido was important for the area - one of the most diverse and disadvantaged in the city - as it would allow minority ethnic groups to have more access to swimming and "health equity".

"This will allow everyone the chance to swim locally and in nature," she said.

Figures published by Sport England in 2025 revealed that 95% of Black adults and 80% of Black children in the country do not swim regularly.

Raj said she wants the lido to act as a "community hub" for families across the area.

While there is support in the area, some locals have expressed concerns over the plans.

Steve Quinnell, 64, who has lived in Eastville for 24 years, said: "My main issue is once you start pouring 200 tonnes of concrete over a green field space you will never get it back."

Friends of Eastville park, a registered charity ran by volunteers who care for the grounds, do not support the plans.

The group's chair Sarah West said: "We have told this group before to look at brownfield sites to bring this project to sites which are already in need of development."

She added that running the lido could prove challenging.

"They are quite high-risk ventures. They tend to get vandalised a lot and we already see a great deal of vandalism in the park, including arson attacks on the existing toilets," she added.

Pamela Nova, a resident who lives near the area said she lost sleep over the plans and feared greater congestion issues and associated "road rage and antisocial activity".

"It's going to be a nightmare," she said.

An environmental activist, Nova also raised concerns about the impact on wildlife.

"[It affects] the ecosystems all sorts of insects invertebrates, the mycelium, the trees are all connected with... that cannot be replaced."

In response to the environmental concerns, Moore said the lido would impact one area of a 900-acre park.

"We are purposing to have an eco-friendly build and have a lot of nature rich planting along the pool side and do everything we can to increase biodiversity and nature," she said.

The CIC said that when it surveyed 4,500 households in the local area they received 2,289 responses with nearly 98% supporting the idea.

Francesca Kent has lived near Eastville Park for 20 years and is in favour of the lido returning.

"There's a lot of children [in the area] that don't have [access to] cars, don't have access to transport, and I think it would be a great thing for the community," she said.

Another user of the park said the lido would be a great step forward.

"People don't realise how big the park is," they said.

"There is not a lot of outdoor swimming options in the city at the moment, it would be great to swim outside."

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