Volunteers want to take over lease to preserve lake

Volunteers hope to take over the lease of a 90-year-old marine lake with the aim of preserving its future for swimming and water sports.

The Friends of New Brighton Marine Lake in Wirral are determined to improve the lake's water quality after noticing it was deteriorating, often full of debris and rubbish and at risk of another blue-green algae outbreak.

Wirral Council had leased the lake to a water sports company, which has since folded, and now the group plans to put a bid in to take over the lease this summer. The authority confirmed positive talks were ongoing.

Chair of the group Colin Clayton said the volunteers wanted to make sure "every possible person can enjoy and benefit" the lake.

"We do some maintenance ourselves to allow as much fresh water in and out," he said.

He added the "long-term aspiration" was to raise money to put in a system recommended by an ecology report carried out at the lake, "to aerate it, maybe trial some planting of seed in it, with mussels and sea squares".

The outdoor swimmers movement in New Brighton took off in 2017, when a small group of swimmers began meeting at the lake each morning.

Now, there are hundreds of people using the lake every day.

For the members of the group, the lake has become an essential part of their health and wellbeing.

Karen Priestly said: "It sort of brings people together for the love of swimming and the community.

"Even if they don't swim, they litter pick.

"Men talk to each other, which is really, really unusual.

"And we laugh and lighten the mood. To me it's essential."

Tim Brunsden said he enjoyed the camaraderie, describing going for a dip as "a nice experience to start the day".

"It's like a little switch because if you're in the water your brain goes 'ugh, it's cold' and you immediately have to think about the present."

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