Kenilworth Town Council will formally write to the district council to urge it to reopen the Abbey Fields lido this summer.

Town councillors voted in favour of a motion presented by Liberal Democrats at this week's town council meeting.

Warwick District Council announced this week that it would be instructing the leisure centre's operators Everyone Active to prioritise indoor swimming lessons above reopening the outdoor pool.

WDC has said that it is still reviewing the reopening of the lido.

Cllr Richard Dickson (Lib Dem, St John's) proposed a motion which said: "This council writes to Warwick District Council ('WDC') to welcome WDC's announcement that it is reviewing its earlier decision not to re-open the district's only public outdoor pool this summer and to express the hope that it will decide that the significant benefit to many residents and visitors of doing so outweigh the costs."

The proposal was seconded by Cllr Graham Hyde (Lib Dem, Borrowell) and was approved with 10 votes for and three against.

Conservative councillors had proposed an amendment to reword the proposal, removing the phrase "outweigh the costs". However this was voted down with four votes in favour and nine against.

Cllr James Kennedy (Grn, Dalehouse) said at the meeting: "I have two concerns here. One that Warwick District Council seem to be taking an inordinate amount of time deciding on this important matter, particularly in view of the current very pleasant weather. It would be really good to understand why it is taking them so long to make this decision."

He added: "The second thing is a concern is that having seen recent pictures of the state of the pool in to which it has declined and wondering whether if the [district] council decides that it cannot reopen the pool why it has been allowed to deteriorate in such a fashion that it has become too expensive to reopen, and why the council has not asked Everyone Active to keep it in better condition."

Councillors were clear to discuss the physical and mental benefits of outdoor exercise that the pool presents, as well as the tourism benefits that the lido also gives.

Cllr Dickson said: "When I say that the the outdoor pool is fantastic it is not just my word that we need to take for it, it is actually a word that Everyone Active use to describe the outdoor pool on their website."

He added: "It has been the responsibility of Warwick District Council to ensure that Everyone Active have maintained this fantastic community asset until such time as it no longer exists."

Outdoor swimming has been permitted by the government since March 29, however Kenilworth's pool is yet to be used in 2021.