Beccles Lido: Energy cost set to soar to £250k a year

Heated to 15 degrees, Beccles Lido opens for four sessions a week all through the winter

The managing director of an outdoor swimming pool says "big decisions will have to made" as the cost to heat the pool is due to increase sevenfold.

Shaun Crowley said the combined cost of gas and electricity at Beccles Lido in Suffolk will rise from £35,000 a year to more than £250,000 by 2024.

He said the venue already used some solar power, but alternative renewable heat sources were proving too costly.

Mr Crowley said: "Clearly, computer says no. It's insane".

In 2021, the lido was paying 17p for electric day units, he said, but that fixed tariff comes to an end this month, and he has been quoted 91p per unit.

• Outdoor pools reopening is 'such a treat'

Gas had increased from 2.5p per unit in 2021 to 21p, but was now fixed until next summer, he said.

The lido has opened for four sessions a week during the winter since lockdown restrictions were lifted.

"If we do nothing we'll be OK until the summer, but at the end of the summer we have big decisions to make," he added.

The lido attracts more than 200 people a week during the coldest winter months

The lido, owned by a community-run charity, underwent a £750,000 refurbishment in 2019

Beccles Lido attracted more than 62,000 people this year until October, with more than 200 people a week braving the winter outdoor swim.

"It's very challenging to stay heated through September and October then open through the winter," Mr Crowley said.

He said the fallout of closing swimming pools put extra pressure on the NHS, as the activity boosts physical health and mental wellbeing.

'New normal'

Waveney District Council closed the pool in 2009 claiming it could not afford to run it, but it was reopened by community interest company Beccles Lido Ltd, which has charitable status.

The rising cost to keep the lido open and heated has led to a fundraising campaign on social media.

"The cost of electricity is scary," Mr Crowley said.

"In the winter we turn it off on Saturday lunchtime but by Wednesday we need to get it up and running again for Thursday morning.

"We are doing everything to keep it operational.

"I worry that it will never go back to how it used to be. These rises have a habit of establishing themselves as a new normal.

"We are doing what we can with solar power. I looked into heat pumps when we reopened in 2009 and back then it cost half a million pounds.

"Compared to the cost of gas it was a no brainer."

More than 10,000 people have so far signed a Swim England #SaveOurPools petition calling on ministers to extend the Energy Bill Relief Scheme beyond March 2023.

It was feared that 40% of local authorities are likely to see closures or service reductions in the coming months - which could see more than 100 pools shut, Swim England said.

The Lido, pictured before its 2009 closure, is next to the River Waveney, which forms the Norfolk/Suffolk county border