Plans to renovate London Fields Lido are being paused due to “financial challenges”, Hackney Council has announced.
The Lido’s extension has been “put on hold” to allow nearby Kings Road Leisure Centre to undergo renovations.
First approved in January 2020, the proposal included the addition of accessible toilets and a viewing gallery.
“the new pool would have helped the little ones during the cold winter months”
Central to the plan, however, was the construction of a 13m indoor teaching pool.
Hackney Mayor Caroline Woodley said the financial strain “we and all councils face” meant the projects could not go ahead at the same time.
Prioritising the £71mn Kings Hall revamp was a “difficult” decision, she said, but residents in the east of the borough “desperately” needed a centre “fit for the future.”
Hackney Council approved the refurbishment in a Cabinet Meeting on 30 September.
The revamp of London Fields was expected to increase “programme flexibility” and reduce queues at the popular outdoor pool, which attracted 340,000 visitors in 2022.
Bernadette, who has worked at the Lido for the last seventeen years, expressed disappointment at the decision, stating that the new pool would have helped the “little ones” during the colder winter months.
But as a lifelong Hackney resident, she said she understood why the council chose Kings Hall: “Have you been over there?” she asked. “It really needs a makeover.”
A new timeline for the London Fields lido project has yet to be announced.
