Politician calls for Havre des Pas lido tender process to be scrapped

Wednesday, 29 October 2025 15:49

The Havre Des Pas Lido is being taken to the States for debate, again, in a bid to stop the tender process.

The government is looking for someone to run the much-loved outdoor pool and its facilities.

However, Deputy David Warr wants that thrown out, in exchange for a future charity, 'Love our Lido', to take the reins.

He wants the States Assembly to decide whether the government should give the group £170,000 annually to look after the maintenance of the 'iconic' outdoor pool.

"We established that the annual cost of running the whole of the pool area and its infrastructure was around about £120,000, and on top of that, there's an additional once-a-decade cost, which we've seen spent this year, of around £500,000.

"So if you divvied that up over a 10-year period, that makes the annual cost of running and keeping everything up right of around £170,000."

Deputy David Warr hopes this debate will stop the cycle.

"Every five or 10 years, there's a massive debate about how little money is spent on the Havre des Pas pool, and then we have a rant at each other in the Assembly, and then more money is allocated to keep the pool running.

The backbencher says the fund will be ringfenced to prevent other government departments from trying to use the money for their own projects.

He says this proposition to protect the lido does not just affect islander's abilities to swim.

"I think people now realise how valuable the Havre des Pas pool is.

"It's also a visitor economy attraction, it has all sorts of wider and health-giving connotations as well, so it's a really big deal as far as the community's concerned.

"That's why I think we're seeing such strong advocacy for the approach that's being taken at the moment."