Letter: We need more outdoor facilities

Looking at the photos of people enjoying the outdoor pools of Sheffield of yesteryear in The Star last week (Retro section, August 6), reminded me of how much people used the open air facilities and how many the city has lost over the years.

The photos show people at play in Longley Park swimming pool (closed), Millhouses Lido (closed/reduced), Endcliffe Park bathing pool (closed), Crookes Valley Park (not allowed), Rivelin Valley (reduced).

The well used Peace Gardens fountains and the unofficial use of Crookes Valley dam, the waiting times for the Hathersage Open air pool and the rise in wild swimming all show that there is an unmet need for outdoor water facilities in the city.

We claim to be ‘The Outdoor City’ – well I think more outdoor water facilities would be very welcome particularly as climate change means we’ll have many more sweltering summer days to look forward to/deal with as the earth inevitably hots up.

Perhaps the city council or its leisure/parks department should look whether there are any locations where such a facility could be built?

We have plenty of parks and open spaces where one could be built.

Maybe there’s scope to put in a pool or better still a surfing facility somewhere.

Parkwood Springs near the Ski Village could be ideal as a commercial venture as an added draw for the area.

The new Wavegarden surf facility in Bristol appears to be well regarded and well used.

Visit https://wavegarden.com for more information about them.

As an interim and relatively low cost measure, the council could revamp and improve the Crookes Valley Park pool so that it can be a safe facility for citizens.

It has been safe in the past and presumably could be again.

Surely the council has to recognise that people will want to cool off and enjoy the pool there and rather than take the cheap, negative option and fill it in before anyone else sadly dies there they should make it user-friendly and give the people something else to enjoy in ‘our outdoor city’.

It seems ironic that our city is blessed with five rivers and many streams and many dams on those waterways and yet there is little leisure use of them except for fishing and paddling.

Surely it would be possible to make better use of them?

Personally I’d like to see the rivers opened up in places (perhaps near a weir), rather like mini-marinas with perhaps a pocket-park with refreshment facilities alongside.

With a bit of imagination with their design such a facility could be very popular.