Public Luxury
Public luxury is a concept that I first discovered in George Monbiot’s work from a few years ago when he was preparing to publish his book on Neoliberalism (now published).
He argues for Private Sufficiency and Public Luxury and it really struck a chord with me as summing up all the ways society has become inequitable and a helpful guiding principle to use when advocating for the world I want to live in. So recently, when the opportunity to do so arose, I felt I had to answer the calL..
I live in a small village in Surrey in South East England. To keep myself fit and entertained post-COVID, I discovered a local gem - a huge, 50m open-air, swimming pool built in the 1930s, just 20 minutes away. Since then I’ve been going as often as I can when it’s open over the warmer months and as I’ve slowly got to know the regulars there, we always end up discussing the same thing - why does it close?
It’s a beautiful space, surrounded by old trees and though next to a college and a fairly main road, it is surprisingly quiet - an oasis on the outskirts of the city.
One of the regulars told me the story of its history today which had been honoured by a (since dismantled) plaque. It was built by locals who were inspired by The Jarrow March of 1933 where unemployed workers in the North marched down to parliament to object to their sudden unemployment at the hands of government policy and the lack of support. The Mayor of Surrey in 1932, William Harvey, created a “Mayor’s Work Fund” to pay unemployed workers in the town to do the work for the council and the Lido opened in 1933. The then “High Sheriff of Surrey”, Sir John Jarvis opened it by diving in and going for a swim! He also “adopted” Jarrow and promised to bring new industry, though these promises were mostly wishes.
On a cold morning in May
And so Guildford Lido was born. 100 men from the town built it with funding from the council and from the residents during the Great Depression.
Fast forward to 2024.
From today, the pool will close until the end of April 2025. Everyone is desperate for it to stay open, especially those of us who use it daily.
In previous years, the pool has closed later - which had allowed us to enjoy the Indian summer of 2021 splashing about in the pool and even had me invest in a wetsuit to experiment with during the final 2 weeks when they turned the boilers off and the water dipped to a bracingly chilly, 8 degrees Celcius! Priosr to 2020, they were open all year round so it is definitely possible.
They closed early last year to allow them to upgrade the facilities and in doing so, spent £2.5m - new lockers, showers, changing rooms and toilets plus a cafe (that’s for another post! I bet you can guess my issue with that!).
Bearing in mind the state of our local waterways (polluted), and this huge investment, AND that they have been hit by the discovery of fraud in the last year, you would think that Guildford Borough Council would be doing all they can to make existing public facilities to maximise their usage by residents and visitors to the area.
BUT no. They don’t want to open beyond 15th September 2024 as it will “cost too much to heat the pool”.
Infuriated by the lack of communication and the realisation that this public luxury is about to be WASTED for the next 7 months, I lost my rag and a couple of weeks ago, I published a petition to get some support so we can go to the council and ask them to reconsider before it closes.
Even the ducks love it!
There is so much that can be done with the space - it could host events, the pool used for therapeutic healing, physio, rehabilitation, grief support, etc and there is so much support and camaraderie amongst the swimmers - we are a proper community.
I have met Suzanne (70) and Jessica (mid-40’s) who come down together in Jessica’s car. Mark (68) is lonely at home alone so comes daily to have a chat and see some friendly faces. Pippa (50) brings her daughter (20) with her occasionally before starting work as a beauty therapist at 10am. Dave (72) is an activist and into aliens and astral projections. I made friends with Fiona (48) who is rehabilitating a shoulder injury by swimming with one arm(!) and my favourites, Caroline and Bob (69), a retired couple who have been coming to the pool most of their lives - who always have a smile, a kind word and jolly story to share.
So here is my petition. I’m going to send it to Guildford Borough Council and Freedom Leisure so please share it with anyone who believes that:
IF THE COUNCIL HAS BOUGHT AND PAID FOR A PUBLIC FACILITY, IT IS OUR RIGHT TO DEMAND TO USE IT.
https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/keep-guildford-lido-open
At first, I thought it should be the users that should sign it, but then realised it's the principle that matters most, so please sign the petition and KEEP US SWIMMING!