AN ADDITIONAL budget of £7.4million to complete a package of leisure projects for Droitwich Spa has been agreed by Wychavon District Council.
At the full council meeting on Wednesday, members voted unanimously to approve the extra cash from the authority’s reserves, providing a total capital budget of £12.5million for the projects in the 2026/27 financial year.
The funding will complete the redevelopment of Droitwich Spa Lido, along with enhancements to the car park.
The improvements will include a spa and brine pool which has been long-awaited by residents and visitors to the town since the Droitwich Brine Baths closed in 2008.
Funding also includes refurbished changing rooms, a new entrance to improve connectivity to the town, extending the cafe to provide additional food and drink space and a fresh water play area in the curtilage of the Lido to complement the new splash pad which recently opened in the Lido Park.
As part of the ‘package of leisure projects’, the town will also get a new ‘Droitwich Spa Pump Track and Skate Park’ on King George’s Playing Field.
Additional funding of £177,000 for that from Wychavon District Council’s reserves was also rubber-stamped at the meeting on Wednesday, providing a total capital budget of £602,000 for the skatepark an pump track.
And, the council agreed £10,000 be added to the 2026/27 revenue parks budget to enable regular litter picking, utility costs, grass-cutting and ongoing repairs and maintenance.
Wychavon District Council leader, Coun Richard Morris, said: “Droitwich Spa Lido is considered one of the best in the country.
“And, when the public was consulted about the town prospectus, respondents rated the Lido as the area they were most proud of, following the fight to get it reopened in 2007.
“The Droitwich Place Board carried out terrific work taking this forward which has not been an easy journey.”
He said the brine pool would be a really good addition, along with the changing room upgrades and it would help sustain the Lido for many years to come.
He added, with the plans for the unitary authority Local Government Reorganisation, the council needed to ‘get going’ and deliver on the vision and the plan it consulted on.
He thanked everyone involved, including Droitwich Place Board, Wychavon’s economic team and deputy chief executive Jane Pickering and community development manager, Jem Teal.
The spending and leisure projects were welcomed by councillors who highlighted the fact the Lido was now open all-year-round and the growing popularity and importance of people spending more of their leisure time outside.
