LIDO campaigners have been told to fundraise for the facility and find a suitable location, as the city council says it cannot afford the provision.

A petition containing 2,716 signatures was handed to Winchester City Council at a meeting on Wednesday last week. In total the petition, both online and on paper, gained 3,024 signatures, 132 of those coming from outside the district.

Campaigners have urged the authority to support the creation of the outdoor swimming pool in Winchester, particularly on the site of the River Park Leisure Centre or as part of plans to transform North Walls Park.

Lucy Taylor, who started the petition, said the response has been extraordinary and the idea has “really captured people’s imaginations”.

She continued: “As Deborah Aydon of the Peoples Pool Campaign in Liverpool says in terms of economic recovery and public health, lidos feel like the perfect post pandemic project. They are community building hubs, they create cohesion, they build connection, they foster both physical and mental wellbeing and they create joy and fun, all things that we really need in this post pandemic recovery. They are inclusive, it would be a place for young adults to be, for teenage girls to dwell, a population who are drastically under served in our community and also a place for families to be together.

“We believe that River Park is the best location for this because it is integrated with other leisure facilities, it’s already a setting where people to exercise. The land belongs to the citizens of Winchester and is for the purpose of public recreation and it’s a much-loved community resource.”

Ms Taylor urged the council to give campaigners “a fair chance” to hear about the detailed proposal.

In response, council leader Lucille Thompson said: “I would certainly welcome the chance to explore how we could expand opportunities for open water swimming in and around the district. However, you seem to be very fixated on the former leisure centre site or North Walls Park and just seem to be unaware of the fact that this is in the flood plain.

“Of course, just because the council cannot afford to invest in such facilities doesn’t mean that you the petitioners cannot go ahead and raise funds to build your own lido and find a suitable site. The council is willing to engage with you to explore options for much open water swimming in the future, but I’m really sorry we just can’t fund it.”

Cllr Thompson said that even if the council had the funds, it would be unlikely that the facility would be in Winchester considering the opening of the new leisure centre at Bar End and the swimming facilities there.

The council’s town forum has established an outdoor swimming group which is looking at ways that access can be given for people to swim in the city’s rivers.

Members urged for more to be done to clean up the rivers to allow for people to swim in them in light of the amount of sewage that has been discharged into them by water companies.