A row is brewing over the possible installation of a sauna next to Hampstead Heath’s mixed swimming pond.
Mark Lamb, a regular to Hampstead’s famed swimming ponds and a local to nearby Dartmouth Park, installed a sauna at the Parliament Hill Lido.
The sauna has become a hit with locals resulting in Mr Lamb offering to install one at Hampstead Heath’s mixed pond. His proposal, however, has sparked uproar amid fears for the future of the area.
Mr Lamb, who is the founder of the Wild Sauna Community Interest Company [CIC], has offered to install the £100,000 wooden sauna free of charge in the corner of a concrete changing compound near the pond.
He has also offered to manage the sauna for free with money raised by charging users a £10-an-hour fee to go towards funding pond lifeguards, the Camden New Journal reports.
“We will put the money up and pay for maintenance. We will take on all the financial risk,” Mr Lamb said.
“The money can go into lifeguarding. This is about public health and increasing access.”
The mixed pond is closed over the winter, and only those who are members of the Winter Swimmers Club, which insures for swimming without needing a lifeguard, still use it.
The CIC would also pay City of London for rent and all costs, while Mr Lamb said his forecasts would pay for lifeguards all year round and increase accessibility.
Mr Lamb also said all income would be ring-fenced, adding: “If it doesn’t work, we will lose the money, no one else.
“If it makes money, our investment is repaid and then we hand the operation over to the City. We estimate it could bring in around £2,000 a week.”
Despite Mr Lamb’s plans, Margaret Dickinson, co-chairman of the Mixed Pond Association, said the sauna plan was “unworkable”.
She said: “The pond is quite small and people fear it could change the social mix.
“There is a feeling that if someone is paying £10 for a sauna it will make the pond feel upmarket and put people off. It might lead to a drop in swimmers.”
Ms Dickinson went on to warn that keeping the pond open all year would mean charging a £4 fee to swim.
“There would have to be three lifeguards on duty. Are they suggesting they would pay the wages over the winter season?
“A lot of people like the quietness of the pond because there are no lifeguards. It would be far better to put the money into subsidising cheaper swims. A sauna is a luxury for wealthy people,” she added.
“It would change the atmosphere. There are 300 people in the winter swimming club and we do not think any are interested. Most people have thrown their hands up in horror.
“There have been comments like ‘what’s next? An underwater disco?’ This is a natural environment and it should not be messed up by things like this.”
Details of the plan have been submitted to the City of London for consideration.
