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The Easter school holidays are in full swing, and the notoriously busy early May bank holidays are just around the corner. Ruislip Lido has officially entered its peak season. Yet, exactly a year after the Leader of the Council promised immediate action to address “obvious risks” at the site, residents are still waiting to see the promised comprehensive risk assessment.
The chaotic scenes of last summer (which saw emergency vehicles struggling to navigate the congested, single access road to the Lido) remain fresh in the memory of local residents. But despite repeated assurances from Hillingdon Council, residents have been left in the dark.
By tracing the council’s own statements over the last twelve months, a clear picture emerges: a political promise was made to residents, but for months, no one at the council actually knew how to deliver it.
The narrative of a broken promise: A 12-month timeline
April 2025: The Promise
At our AGM, Council Leader Cllr Ian Edwards acknowledged the “obvious risks” at the Lido, conceding existing assessments “may not be best practice.” He publicly committed to a new, comprehensive risk assessment, promising: “Where we go and we encourage residents to congregate in good numbers around obvious risks… that is a piece of work that will be picked up very quickly.”
June 2025: The Incident
On 29th June, a busy summer weekend, residents recorded video footage of emergency vehicles struggling to access the Lido through congested traffic on Reservoir Road. That same evening, Cllr Philip Corthorne took to Facebook, referencing the Leader’s promise and stating: “I would expect that to be accompanied by suitable measures to mitigate risk.”
July & August 2025: Officers Unaware of the Promise
Despite the Leader’s public promise of an “overall” assessment, the council’s internal machinery was entirely unaware of it. In July, a Members Enquiry response stated the Lido already had “many” risk assessments and that “there is not an overall risk assessment for the site as the individual ones cover most if not all eventualities.”
By mid-August, the council’s Emergency Management Response Manager confirmed she had “not been involved in, nor had any prior knowledge of, a risk assessment being undertaken,” noting that the Director for Environment was also unaware and needed to speak to Cabinet Members to find out what was going on.
September 2025: Internal Confusion and Public Promises
Internal emails from late September show the council’s Green Spaces Technical Manager asking colleagues: “…it seems Members promised something that was not communicated to Officers… is there a plan to produce such a risk assessment?” Another officer replied that they were “intending to instruct an external specialist” but had not received any responses.
Days later, at our autumn public meeting, Ward Cllrs Smallwood and Riley painted a rosier picture to the public, stating the council was “in the process of finding external experts” and explicitly promising that “once the document is approved, the residents will be invited to feed into the review and feed in their experiences.”
November 2025: The Warning
The RRA published an article highlighting the six-month delay, warning that without a firm timeline, the Lido could face another busy season without a robust plan.
February 2026: The Deadline Set
As half-term approached, the new Cabinet Member for Community & Environment, Cllr Wayne Bridges, assured the RRA in writing that officers were working with “specialist external advisors.” He set a firm deadline, stating the work was “expected to be completed in time to allow officers to consider and put in place steps… ahead of when the Lido is expected to reach peak use.”
March 2026: The “Imminent” Meeting
At the 2026 RRA AGM, Cllr John Riley told residents the assessment had gone to an external company and would be reporting back “in the next few days.” He added: “We are having a meeting with the relatively new cabinet member whose portfolio includes Ruislip Lido tomorrow evening to work out the plan for the coming season and we hope very soon to have that risk assessment.”
Where Are We Now?
Peak use is no longer approaching – it is here. After a cold wet spring, the first hot day of the Easter holidays has seen chaos already at the Lido. Wednesday 8 April brought gridlocked traffic, anti-social noise, residents with nowhere to park and widespread abuse of private property.
Wednesday 8th April 2026 – traffic jams approaching the Lido
We have heard “imminent” before. We were promised a resident consultation that has never materialized. We cannot afford another summer of traffic gridlock, anti-social behaviour, and compromised emergency access while we wait for reports to be filed and internal miscommunications to be resolved.
Taking Action
Because of these endless delays and contradictory statements, the Ruislip Residents’ Association has now submitted a formal Freedom of Information (FOI) request to the London Borough of Hillingdon. We are demanding to see the procurement contracts for these “external advisors,” the draft reports, and the formal notes from the operational meeting Councillors claimed to be having last month.
If the work has been done, the Council must publish it. If it hasn’t, the community deserves to know why a public safety promise made by the Leader of the Council exactly a year ago has been ignored.
We will keep residents updated the moment the Council responds to our request. In the meantime, we urge residents to remain vigilant and report any safety or access issues around the Lido to the council and the police as the busy season continues.
The Freedom of Information request in full
To remain within the Section 12 cost limit, I am requesting formal documents, final versions, or the most recent draft versions held.
On 4 February 2026, the Cabinet Member for Community & Environment stated in writing that:
“Officers are working on progressing this with specialist external advisors.”
Please provide the following recorded information:
1. Commissioning and procurement of external advisors
Please provide copies of formal documentation relating to the commissioning of the “specialist external advisors” referred to above, including:
– the statement of work, specification, or brief
– any contract, engagement letter, or purchase order
– any document within this procurement or engagement package that specifies timelines, milestones, or required delivery dates
2. Deliverables and outputs
Please provide copies of any documents produced by external advisors and submitted to the Council to date, including:
– draft or final risk assessments
– interim reports or site assessments
– presentations, executive summaries, or briefing documents
If no such documents have been received, please confirm this.
3. March 2026 meeting on Lido operations
At the RRA AGM in March 2026, a Ward Councillor stated that a meeting would take place “the following evening” with the Cabinet Member to agree the plan for the coming Lido season.
Please provide:
– the agenda, minutes, action notes, or internal briefing papers relating to this meeting
– any officer reports, briefing notes, or operational plans prepared for or following this meeting
4. Consultation and resident engagement
Please provide any formal documents relating to proposed or planned consultation with residents regarding the Lido risk assessment, including:
– draft or final consultation documents
– internal briefing papers describing consultation approach
– communications issued or prepared for residents
5. Targeted internal correspondence
To avoid exceeding the Section 12 cost limit, please provide internal correspondence (emails and attachments) relating to the commissioning or delivery of the Lido risk assessment, limited to:
– date range: 1 January 2026 to the date of this request
– personnel: James Bell, Marcus Harvey, Steve Brown, Jordan Groves and Cllr Wayne Bridges
Format and clarification
I would prefer to receive the information in electronic format.
If any part of this request is considered exempt, please provide the remainder with redactions and specify the exemption relied upon.
If this request exceeds the cost limit, please prioritise Sections 1, 2, and 3 and advise how the remainder may be refined under your Section 16 duty to advise and assist.
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