logo
UK's deepest lido is reopening this summer after three years – and an £8.75 million upgrade

UK's deepest lido is reopening this summer after three years – and an £8.75 million upgrade

The Irish Sun30-05-2025

THERE'S good news for outdoor swimmers, as Hilsea Lido is set to reopen in a matter of months.
The outdoor swimming pool, which is the
4
The Hilsea Lido has been closed since 2022
4
The lido has been popular with Hilsea locals since the 1930s
Credit: Portsmouth City Council
The
It closed its doors back in 2022 for a refurbishment - thanks to the Government's Levelling Up programme, the outdoor pool benefited from £8.75 million worth of investment.
Along with a fully functioning pool, there will be new changing rooms, benches, tables, and a fountain.
The CGI plans also reveal grass areas with sun umbrellas and sunbeds for relaxing
next
to the pool.
Read More on UK Lidos
According to
At the moment, locals can't see the works as there's a protective tent over the site.
There are heaters underneath keeping the temperature at 8 degrees which is crucial for the rendering to cure.
Finishing touches are being made like the tiling, the pool base has been stabilised, and the original lagoons have been restored.
Most read in News Travel
To keep the pool going and without further need for work, a modern filtration system has been installed.
Parts of the original lido have been removed, like the spectator stand which was declared unsafe during the upgrade.
New £4million lido to open in UK next year
4
Hilsea is the nation's deepest lido and upgrades have been made to maintain it
Credit: Facebook
The mural has also been removed, but the government website says that the artist will return to paint another once the lido is up and running.
It's not the first time
Local residents then formed a charity called Hilsea Lido Pool for the People who took over its management. The lido re-opened its doors in 2014.
After the current closure, the original plans said that the lido would reopen for its 90th anniversary, which is on July 24.
No official opening date has been revealed just yet, but there is more information on the
It reads: "The project is set to reopen in early autumn 2025, which is the same year the lido will celebrate its 90th anniversary."
The opening of this
And here are the
4
The Hilsea Lido will open in the next few months
Credit: Portsmouth City Council

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Hotel lobby quietly backs introduction of a tourist tax, says Fine Gael TD
Hotel lobby quietly backs introduction of a tourist tax, says Fine Gael TD

Irish Examiner

time2 days ago

  • Irish Examiner

Hotel lobby quietly backs introduction of a tourist tax, says Fine Gael TD

Private briefings from the hotel lobby have given quiet backing to the introduction of a tourist tax, a Fine Gael TD has said. James Geoghegan has indicated hotels in Dublin City have provided him with 'off-the-record' briefings, where they have set out their willingness to deal with a hotel room tax if Government can show where the funds will go. 'I've actually had a lot of off-the-record discussions with some of the major hotel sectors in Dublin City and what they say to me off-the-record is that look, 'a couple of euro on a hotel bill [is] fine, but if you show us what the return on that investment is',' Mr Geoghegan said. In recent months, the four local authorities in Dublin have been working on proposals to tax hotel rooms, with a suggestion funds raised could be funneled into amenities and local improvements. It has been estimated as much as €12m could be collected each year through the proposed levy. Mr Geoghegan cited how other countries have introduced a tourist tax, highlighting Edinburgh provides some of the funds back to hotels to deal with the administrative costs of the levy. 'There's lots of ways to ensure that we can bring them to the table. I can understand what they don't want to see is just something happen overnight and there does need to be a process, however frustrating that might be for people out there who want to see things happen quickly. 'This is the process of Government, but I think we're going in the right direction.' Mr Geoghegan said hotels would buy into the hotel levy as money raised would go 'right back into Dublin City' and support tourists travelling to Ireland. 'We see right across Europe, a couple of euros on a hotel bill is a very standard practice,' Mr Geoghegan said. It comes after a group of Dublin-based Fine Gael TDs, including Mr Geoghegan, launched proposals to support the implementation of the Dublin City taskforce report. This includes calling on the Government to examine the introduction of a hotel room tax, which has previously been dismissed by senior Coalition figures — including Tánaiste and Fine Gael leader Simon Harris. Mr Geoghegan said he had engaged in discussions with Fine Gael ministers, including tourism minister Peter Burke, on the matter. 'I do understand the general broader concerns in respect of tourism that he [Mr Burke] might have from an overnight introduction, but I'd be hopeful that he would support an examination,' Mr Geoghegan said. The Fine Gael TD added any examination should be carried out by Fáilte Ireland. On Wednesday, Taoiseach Micheál Martin indicated the Government would discuss an implementation report on the taskforce at Cabinet next Tuesday. Mr Geoghegan said he was 'very hopeful' there would be a commitment to examining a hotel tax within the Cabinet memo. Read More Irish universities rank among global 800 for first time

Thousands of holiday lets will need planning permission due to Rent Pressure Zone changes
Thousands of holiday lets will need planning permission due to Rent Pressure Zone changes

Irish Times

time3 days ago

  • Irish Times

Thousands of holiday lets will need planning permission due to Rent Pressure Zone changes

Thousands of short-term holiday lettings on the west coast and elsewhere will require planning permission as a result of emergency laws extending Rent Pressure Zones (RPZs) nationwide by the end of this week. Under a 2019 law designed to get holiday lettings back into the private rental market, properties rented out for short periods in RPZs are required to have planning permission. Minister of State Michael Healy-Rae said it is a 'big concern' for him that Airbnb -style rentals all over Co Kerry would need planning permission because of one of the Government's big housing policies. The Coalition could face a backlash from more of its own senior ministers, some of whom had already raised concerns about the impact regulations on short-term lettings could have on rural tourism. READ MORE At the moment, tourism hotspots such as Listowel, Tralee, Dingle and Kenmare in Co Kerry, Belmullet and Ballina in Co Mayo, and Bantry and Skibbereen in Co Cork are not classed as RPZs. As a result of this, short-term holiday lettings do not require planning permission in these places. A spokeswoman for Minister for Housing James Browne said: 'Currently, any time we designate an area as a Rent Pressure Zone, the provisions related to short-term letting automatically apply to that Rent Pressure Zoned area. This will be the case when we apply Rent Pressure Zones nationally.' Mr Healy-Rae, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, said he was concerned about the impact the changes would have. 'It's a thing I'm acutely aware of and extremely concerned about,' he said, adding that he was 'hoping to work within Government to try and address' it. The consequence of the law means short-term lets in several ministers' constituencies are required to apply for planning permission. Among the ministers whose areas stand to be impacted are Mr Browne, Minister for Children Norma Foley, Minister for Social Protection Dara Calleary, Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke and Minister of State Timmy Dooley. Earlier this year, Ms Foley raised concerns about a separate proposal to ban planning permission for short-term lets in towns with populations of more than 10,000 people. On Tuesday, a spokesman for Ms Foley declined to comment, as did a spokesman for Mayo-based Mr Calleary. Also on Tuesday, the Cabinet agreed to rush through the emergency legislation extending RPZs to the entire country, with Ministers planning to have the legislation passed through all stages in the Oireachtas and ready to be signed into law by Thursday. It is understood that some people who lease out short-term holiday lets have already been in touch with TDs to complain about the impact the legislation will have on their businesses and to ask for pre-legislative scrutiny of the Bill. Mr Brown confirmed there will be no special exemption for students under the new rental regime . He was due to meet Minister for Further and Higher Education James Lawless on Tuesday over his concerns about students and other people who move regularly facing higher rents. However, that meeting has been deferred until next week. Mr Browne told reporters that special protections for student tenants in the private market would be 'unworkable' and 'unenforceable'. Labour's housing spokesman Conor Sheehan claimed on Tuesday that he had seen 'anecdotal' evidence of landlords in areas not yet covered by RPZs trying to increase their rents before the law was passed.

Kerry Airport sees profits jump as it rules out any name changes
Kerry Airport sees profits jump as it rules out any name changes

Irish Examiner

time5 days ago

  • Irish Examiner

Kerry Airport sees profits jump as it rules out any name changes

Kerry Airport has ruled out any future name change, with the board no longer considering requests to rename the private airport, as it reported a €1.37m profit last year. Results released ahead of the airport's AGM show a growth in passenger numbers as well as profit in 2024. The airport in Farranfore reported operating profit after taxation of €1,373,300, compared to €1,198,347 in the previous year. The final profit represented a 14% increase year-on-year. Last year was another record year for Kerry Airport, with 417,409 passengers, the third highest passenger numbers in the airport's history, for the year to the end of December, it said. Supported by Government grants, the result is particularly welcome in light of planned capital expenditure of over €4.4m in 2025, Basil Sheerin, chief financial officer of Kerry Airport, said. A new arrivals hall opened in March this year, and an expansion of the departures hall was due to be completed by the end of July 2025. Growth in 2024 was driven by strong performances in fuel, gift shop/duty free, and car park operations. Separately, in a letter to the monthly meeting of Kerry County Council, the secretary of the private airport said the board intended "to promote the Kerry brand" well into the future and the question of any name change was "closed". "The board considers the matter of renaming the airport at any time as closed and no further considerations will be given to requests of this nature," John O'Sullivan, airport secretary, said on behalf of the board of directors. The letter was in response to a request by the council to explore the possibility of renaming Kerry Airport after Daniel O'Connell, the Liberator, given 2025 was the 250th anniversary of the famous Kerry man's birth. The request had been given "serious consideration", Mr O'Sullivan said. However, "the board is of the strong opinion that the current 'Kerry Airport' name is an established brand both domestically and internationally". Killarney councillor John O'Donoghue, who led the move, has expressed his disappointment. O'Connell was the greatest of Kerry men and Irish men and a committed European, and the county would have benefited, he felt. "Other international airports such as the John Lennon airport in Liverpool and the George Best City airport in Belfast were named after local figures and still bore their place name and Kerry would still also be known as Kerry," he said. The councillor had made the request on foot of suggestions from the public. This article was funded by the Local Democracy Scheme Read More Kerry Airport board dismisses call to rename transport hub after Daniel O'Connell

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store