In a shock announcement on 12 March 2026, Stroud District Council (SDC) announced it intended to indefinitely close the much-loved Stroud Lido / outdoor pool.

UPDATE! On Wednesday 3 June 2026, the council will vote whether to allocate an additional £276,000 to complete works to enable the Lido to open in summer 2026 and 2027, and to help protect its future.

The meeting is open to the public to attend (though only the elected councillors may speak), and is at the council chamber in Ebley Mill, at 7pm. Meeting papers are here.

TV cameras will be outside from 6pm til 6.20pm, and supporters are asked to come, bring placards, wear fancy dress if you want (or not!) and to show support.

We are asking SDC to:

1. commit to the proposal its officers have now put forward, which can get the pool open in August
2. commit to extending the opening of the pool into mornings and throughout September, to make the most of it, despite the late opening
3. pull forward the opening date into July by removing one non-essential item, a special coating, which could be done in the autumn instead, alongside further improvement works, for which they still have money set aside.

See how you can take action to make your concerns known to your councillor. Not all councillors are voting on 3 June, but all of them have the opportunity to influence their colleagues.

Please join us at SDC Strategy & Resources Committee on Wednesday 3 June, Ebley Mill, from 6pm.

The story so far

As well as the timeline below, there is a good overview of what has been happening on the Stroud Town Council website.

• 6am on Thursday 12 March 2026 – SDC announces a proposal not to open the Lido in summer 2026.
  • The timing of the announcement gave the public just 6 hours to submit questions to the committee.
  • The proposal says the cost of upgrade has been estimated at around £5 million, which the council cannot afford.
  • The proposal does not set forward an option to repair the Lido.
• Over the next week:
  • Local residents question the proposals, pointing out:
    • Essential repair works were estimated at just £800k in 2023, and money budgeted for those repairs.
    • It is unclear why repairs have not been done, or why repair proposals not put forward now.
    • More information was needed, including costs and timescales for repair as well as upgrade.
• Over the next month:
  • The campaign group Save Our Lido Stroud is formed by a group of outdoor pool users, and starts organising events, publicity and campaigning to keep the Lido open, pointing out that if it closes this year it will become much more difficult, structurally and politically, to re-open in future.
  • Save Our Lido Stroud also organise a site visit with their own engineer and a leading Lido plant engineer, who assess that works can be done to cost effectively open it, for far less than the £900k the council have already set aside.
• On Thursday 16 April 2026:
  • Stroud District Council agrees to try and get the pool open for the summer.
• Over the next two months:
  • SDC holds a series of meetings and discussions, including with contractors and with campaigners.
  • On 20th April, Stroud Town Council (a smaller council, like a parish) holds an open meeting in which residents express a strong wish for the pool to be kept open, affordable and accessible, including this summer.
  • Save Our Lido Stroud puts forward a detailed plan for opening in time for the school holidays.

What happens in the longer term

Save Our Lido Stroud is also now trying to have conversations with local politicians about the future, and to get good information that will help us plan. Stroud District Council is being abolished in a year or two as part of Local Government Reform, and there are concerns about what will happen to services that go up to the county-wide unitary authority which, by law, effectively has to spend most of its money on social care.

At the Town Council public meeting there was a strong wish for the Town Council (and those in other areas too) to step forward and work with the community to keep assets and services, locally run and controlled.