A FILM has been produced to promote the campaign to get Otley's Lido reopened.

Friends of Otley Lido are working on putting together a plan for how to bring the site of the old outdoor pool at Wharfemeadows Park, which closed in 1993, back into use.

That follows the securing of a 12-month exclusivity agreement with the landowners, Leeds City Council, which was announced at the start of the year, to give them time to formulate a plan for the project.

Now, the group has worked with Mark Currie, of Otley-based Catapult Films, to produce an online video to explain exactly what its aims are – and what stage it has reached.

The film, which can be viewed at https://vimeo.com/172129102, features Friends of Otley Lido's chairman, Leonie Sharp; director, Tony Rogan, and fundraiser, Bridget Crisp.

In it Mrs Sharp, highlighting the attractions of the riverside location, says: "It absolutely makes sense that we try and bring this back for Otley and the people of Leeds.

"It's a decent-sized pool, it's 30 metres by approximately 19 metres and it's got a semi-circular kids paddling pool, which allows for enough space around the swimming pool for a bit of sunbathing.

"We're looking at providing not just a swimming pool but a leisure facility, with a gym, perhaps a restaurant, a spa – essentially bringing back a facility that's centred around water-related activities.

"It's aimed at the whole community, so we're looking at teaching children how to swim and providing a facility for older people to get active, running some gym classes in the swimming pool.

"We're also looking at families being able to have a good day out and at providing a facility for the local triathlon community."

Other aspirations for the project include:

l keeping admission prices low so the lido can be enjoyed by all

l fitting out the buildings around the pool with facilities that can support and fund it; and

l creating a heated pool with retractable cover to make it a year-round attraction.

Mr Rogan, giving a 'progress report' in the film, adds: "We've just commissioned a firm of architects to look at a capacity study.

"That will then inform us that, yes, we can go ahead into the next phase, the feasibility study.

"That's where we'll then commission an architect team to go into the site and do a much more detailed assessment of what we can and cannot do.

"So, at the end of 2016, we'll have completed a business plan, we should have architects' plans of what the site could physically look like and then the serious fundraising will start."