#blackpilllido — Public Fediverse posts

SWANSEA: Thieves steal Blackpill Lido sprinklers days before bank holiday opening — leaving families facing wait

Thieves have struck at one of Swansea’s most popular free family attractions just days before its summer opening, stealing the distinctive sprinklers from Blackpill Lido and forcing a delay that will disappoint thousands of families planning a bank holiday visit.

The sprinklers – which help keep visitors cool in the sunshine during the lido’s busy summer season – were taken from the site on Wednesday. Police have been informed and CCTV footage is being checked to help identify those responsible.

The lido had been due to open for the summer on Saturday 2 May, with council staff spending the week carrying out checks and repairs in preparation. Instead, visitors arriving this weekend will find it closed, with the opening now pushed back by at least a week.

Tracey McNulty, Swansea Council’s Head of Cultural Services, Parks and Cleansing, said the council was working urgently to find a solution. “We’re disappointed and upset that this has happened and we’d like to thank everyone for their patience and understanding while we organise a fix that will allow us to open the lido safely as soon as possible,” she said.

She urged anyone with information to come forward. “The sprinklers were stolen from the site on Wednesday, and we’d urge anyone who might be able to help recover them to contact the police. We’re checking CCTV footage to see if they can help us identify the thieves,” she said.

She added that the sprinklers were distinctive and would have been difficult to remove unnoticed. “The sprinklers are distinctive and the two larger ones are quite heavy. They would have had to be lifted into a van or larger vehicle so it’s quite possible that someone would have seen it happening.”

Council teams are now working to create a temporary fix for the holes left where the sprinklers should be, so the lido can be used safely once the repair is complete. Once that work is finished, it will take a further three days to fill the pool area – meaning an opening date of at least a week away.

McNulty said the council remained committed to getting the lido open as quickly as possible. “Blackpill Lido is a fantastic free family destination, and we are doing all we can to resolve the issues and get the lido open. Although we are organising a temporary fix, we’re committed to replacing the sprinklers as soon as we can.”

Blackpill Lido sits on the seafront at Blackpill on the edge of Swansea Bay, and is one of the city’s most-loved free outdoor spaces during the summer months. The wide shallow pool is particularly popular with young children and their families during warm weather, and forms part of a wider package of free waterfront attractions in the bay area.

The theft comes as the council has been investing significantly in the bay area, with ambitious plans including padel courts, a zip wire and a year-round lido among proposals being considered for the future of Swansea Bay.

South Wales Police is investigating the theft. Anyone who may have seen something suspicious at the site on Wednesday, or who has any information about the whereabouts of the sprinklers, is asked to contact South Wales Police by calling 101, or to report anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

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#Blackpill #BlackpillLido #Gower #Mumbles #sprinklers #SwanseaCouncil #theft

Padel courts, zip wire and a year-round lido: Swansea’s big plans for the bay — but no answers on the slip bridge

The plans were presented to councillors at a meeting of the economy and infrastructure service transformation committee on 2 April, where a feasibility study commissioned in 2024 was laid out in full for the first time.

The study covers the foreshore corridor from West Pier at Swansea Marina all the way to the Clyne River Bridge at Blackpill — deliberately steering clear of the Civic Centre site, which is already being redeveloped by Urban Splash, and Mumbles, where a major seawall and promenade project has recently been completed.

Mumbles prom as it looks now
(Image: Swansea Council)

Steve Hopkins, the council’s strategic manager for tourism, marketing and special events, told councillors that tourism is already worth £658 million a year to Swansea’s economy and supports 5,400 jobs, with 4.62 million visitors recorded in 2024. But the study was blunt about the bay’s shortcomings. The official report identifies a “lack of vibrancy and facilities along the foreshore” and an “undefined unique selling point” compared to other UK seaside destinations, with the road dominating and facilities in poor condition in places.

Nearly 800 people were consulted as part of the study — including seafront businesses, beach users, residents and councillors — and the message was consistent: more eateries, better toilets, improved seating, barbecue spots, public art, viewing platforms, beach-related retail and easier access to the beach itself. Better and cheaper parking also came through strongly, as did a call for the Swansea Bay Rider land train service to be extended eastward past St Helens, in addition to its current westward run towards Mumbles.

Swansea Bay Land Rider Train – photo by Enjoy Swansea

The study divides the foreshore into a series of distinct zones. The promenade area closest to the Civic Centre would get separate “fast” and “slow” routes for cyclists and pedestrians, widened surfaces, new seating, tree planting, improved lighting and a new signature sculpture. The St Helens activity zone — which will see the Ospreys return to St Helens Stadium — would get improved public realm to make the matchday and events experience better for spectators, with pop-up food stalls and a large screen among the ideas. The ecology area near the foot golf site would become a nature education centre, using the existing building, with better interpretation and footpaths allowing visitors to explore SSSI habitats closer to the shore.

The centrepiece of the near-term ambitions is Blackpill. The study proposes significantly expanding the lido and surrounding area, with a relocated zip line and crazy golf from Singleton Park, a new flexible events space with a tensile structure for all-year use, a new pedestrian and cycle bridge over the Clyne River, formalised beach access points, planting to improve the road frontage and food and drink including a beach bar. The aim is to make the lido somewhere people visit in January as well as July.

Blackpill Lido
(Image: Swansea Council)

Padel courts are also specifically proposed near the Singleton Park boating lake, alongside upgraded kiosks, terraced banks and improved planting. Hopkins acknowledged the sport’s rapid spread — “dare I say it, padel courts, they don’t seem to be going away,” he told the committee — but said the foreshore offered a great backdrop for the right facility in the right place. Beach sports zones and designated family areas are also in the mix.

Tracey McNulty, head of cultural services, parks and cleansing, was clear that the plans were early-stage. “At this moment the proposals are very much about improving things gently rather than building new things,” she told the committee. The study is not yet an adopted strategy and no funding has been secured. The next step, officers say, is to develop the proposals into worked-up schemes ready to bid for capital funding when opportunities arise — whether through Welsh Government regeneration grants, tourism funding, active travel budgets or partnership with organisations including Swansea University and the Welsh Wildlife Trusts.

Committee chair Cllr Phil Downing welcomed the report but asked whether new commercial activity along the foreshore could drain footfall from the city centre — a concern officers said they had factored in, with the aim being to attract new visitors rather than displace existing spending. Cllr Mike White called the bay “absolutely tremendous” and asked about beach volleyball, log cabin lookout points and whether boats could return to the boating lake, citing busy volleyball events he had seen in Bournemouth as an example of what the space could host.

The slip bridge at it’s current resting place on Swansea promenade

One question councillors couldn’t get a straight answer on was the future of the slip bridge. Cllr White raised it directly, but Tracey McNulty told the committee it hadn’t been included in the study, describing it as “a live topic, an issue structurally with highways” and adding that she wasn’t party to that discussion. The slip bridge — a much-loved Victorian iron footbridge that once connected the promenade to the foreshore near St Helens — remains dismantled, with its arch currently sitting on the cycle path near St Helens and the original stone abutments standing unused along Oystermouth Road. Swansea Council has allocated £139,000 to assist the Friends of Swansea Slip Bridge, and campaigners are pushing for a replica built from modern steel after the original 1915 span was deemed beyond repair. But its future remained unresolved at the meeting — and absent from the official report entirely.

Cllr Downing closed the meeting on a lighter note, suggesting saunas could be added to the foreshore offer for winter visitors.

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#Blackpill #BlackpillLido #PadelCourt #planning #SingletonPark #SingletonParkBoatingLake #Swansea #SwanseaCouncil #SwanseaPromenade #ZipWire