London Fields Lido closure halted amid concern over plans to end gender segregation

London Fields Lido. Photograph: Peter Smith (Wikicommons)

The planned temporary closure of London Fields Lido so that “urgent” maintenance can be carried out has been put on ice.

But the council is still warning that the popular facility could be summarily shut at short notice in the coming months so that work can be undertaken to “stabilise areas that may be at risk of failure”.

The announcement came as several members of Better, the contractor which operates the pool, told the Hackney Citizen they were not informed about public consultation events regarding changing facilities and other design issues.

Hackney Council said letters about the consultation meetings were sent out to all Better members – and Councillor Jon Burke, who is in charge of leisure in the borough, said some users had expressed concerns about plans to convert the current changing rooms into a “changing village”.

He added: “Female lido users, in particular, noted a preference for gender segregated facilities.”

He said he had asked architects to draw up a new design for the changing rooms that maintained separate male and female changing areas.

However, it is understood some unisex cubicles will also be provided indoors.

Currently all indoor changing facilities at the lido are gender specific. However, there are some outdoor unisex changing cubicles.

Cllr Burke said: “Once the revised design has been developed, we will provide members with a copy of the scheme and an opportunity to provide feedback any final comments. Following this process, we will be able appoint a contractor and announce a start-date for the proposed works.”

Useful suggestions have been received for more outdoor showers, a poolside sauna and the use of solar panels to heat the lido, he added.

“Given the complexity and planning requirements of a sauna and renewable energy at the lido, we will explore these proposals as part of future works,” he said.

The lido had been expected to close this month and to remain out of bounds to swimmers until next spring.