Swimming pools use vast amounts of energy to heat water, they are simply not financially viable unless they are able to raise prices hugely.
Lots of other small businesses with large energy use will go bump too, processes that use ovens, kilns etc will struggle to survive.
Not only that, booking a session is impossible so I don’t bother anymore. Side complaint: the user interface for the EveryoneActive website makes me want to look for a swimming slot even less. And you have to make an account for each leisure centre under the same brand. Ridiculous.
So, all the swimming pools are being closed, we’re told constantly from the age of 5 not to swim anywhere other than a pool because we’ll drown, and even ignoring that the sea and rivers are full of sewage and the lakes are private property.
For an island nation we really give no fucks about swimming, which is sad, really.
We’re going to end up with a similar situation to the USA, where the provision of public pools and swimming lessons is so poor, that large parts of the lower socio-economic classes cannot swim. This is how you end up with so many multi-person drowning stories from over there.
Oh well, I’m sure Truss or Sunak will be along at some point to tell us that the way to prevent drowning is to pull yourself up by your bootstraps.
What a first world problem to have 🙂
I live in Swindon. The outcry over the closure of The Oasis was massive. Any fucks given by those in charge? Nope…
Everything I’ve heard about public pools makes me just think “they were barely open anyway”
I’ve heard nothing but bad things about our local pool… they can arbitrarily tell you to leave because “your time is up” but there’s no actual guarantee of time, it’s all based on some hidden metric for how busy it is. The number of actual free swim sessions is basically zero too as the pool is constantly in use for one event or another
We used to have a Virgin Active here, and they had a pool that would have been much better than the one the council contracted out to Freedom Leisure… then PureGym took it over and the pool was filled in (or covered probably, filling in sounds expensive)
It’s very simple
If the government doesn’t provide support, even with raising prices, these places become unviable, especially public sector. The cost to provide support is relatively low in the face of some guarantees made, but the government is clearly reluctant to do so
Remember, businesses are not subject to the price cap.
This will incur additional costs (swimming is used the disabled and elderly, and helps to relieve pain as it’s often the only exercise they can do), cost more lives as kids cannot learn to swim, and cut off our Olympic talent. It will make access to a swimming pool – even more than now – based upon wealth, and limited to private clubs and wealthy local authorities.
Swim England and other bodies have been raising the alarm about this since the New Year. It is – as someone who’s swam for 30+ years – so frustrating.
Swimxit. Just think about the millions that will go to NHS, thanks to those pool closures.
If only leisure centres had large roofs making solar panels a viable measure in reducing energy consumption… why in gods name are we not making all new building use solar panels. The cost would decrease with the forced increase in production too.
If they did adult only swimming pools I’d maybe bother paying the crazy prices but the idea of getting in water kids have been shitting in all day isn’t a leasurely thought.
This is worrying. Everyone should at the very least know how to keep themselves afloat if they happen to fall into water- say a boat capsizes, or you’re on holiday and the sea current is stronger than you expected, or even if you get in a pool and have a cramp or faint for some reason. Drowning is a leading cause of death for British people abroad. If pools close, more people won’t be able to learn.
Yet more blood from the stone.
This also affects things like hydrotherapy and aqua aerobics. Pools are not just for learning how to swim: they are great for staying in shape, physical therapy and socialising. Pools are vital in society and we will see them go the way of libraries at this rate, where people only care once they are gone and never coming back.
No worries, I hear Rishi Sunak’s massive outdoor pool (currently under construction) is coming along nicely.
Good, people shouldn’t be using water so frivolously during this unprecedented HEAT WAVE
You can bet all the Tory MPs and wealthy donors still have access to pools.
Enough is enough.
If the common folk want to swim let them on their annual skegness holiday week… the other 51 weeks working to the bone to extract shareholder profits. It is after all the Tory way.
My local pool is finally back open, but no swimming lessons. The pool in a more affluent area on the far side of the Borough opened immediately after lockdown restrictions with its full timetable of classes and lessons restored. The pool in the poorest area was closed down and is now a gym.
We ungrateful plebs would do well to remember that basic recreational facilities are the privilege of the ‘hard working’ rich. We should know our place.
Geez, I thought it was just me! Trying to find an open pool for lap swim has become impossible. Local council pool is half closed due to lack of lifeguards, covid, plant breakdown, pick an excuse. My next two options are both outdoors, one heated, and conveniently no booking required but either the busses/Overground have been borked every weekend so I can’t get to them. Local private gyms have either no pool, its some bizarre length of 17m, or its three lanes wide.
Just looking around at all the council pools in London I have had access to in the last ten years and a lot of these must be nearing end of life for either the building or the physical plant. At some point some serious investment will need to be made and the covid-era restrictions stood down. Right now it feels like an impasse.
Our local pool was looking run down in the 90’s then they refurbished it and closed it for a year now it’s great. It’s also a library and community centre I think.
It’s alright, my neighbour, we call him Rish, has just installed a new pool saves us going to the public one!
I tried to get lessons for my kid this year, even the *waiting* lists were closed ☹️
Our local one was closed due to lack of funds, and the council have spent 2.5 years playing fantasy swimming pool with the locals (this pool will apparently also be the library, scout hut, community centre and health centre, in one building..).
They have thus far failed to respond to the elephant in the room – if you didn’t have the money to keep the existing pool open, where is the money coming from to knock down what was there before and build this grand complex three times the size?
What do you expect, with this government. There one thing you can be sure with this government, always expect the worst, unless you are rich, then you can expect to get richer.
My hoemtown is along one of the UKs major rivers and a few years back the Tory council sold off the swimming baths so they could open a new one in the next town over, which is effectively a replacement for the swimming baths of two towns. They sold the old swimming baths (and leisure centre) off to a private company and put a condition on the sale stating that it can’t be used as a public leisure facility because it would compete with the new facility, which incidentally is not big enough for the demand.
Not sure how this isn’t a breach of competition law, but either way the regulator didn’t want to know.
Pools are all but shut to working people anyway. Open lane swimming is only available in most pools during work hours. Any time someone who works for a living would be available to swim is taken up by lacklustre coached clubs or questionable lessons from teachers distracted by the fresh out of school life guard.
28 comments
Swimming pools use vast amounts of energy to heat water, they are simply not financially viable unless they are able to raise prices hugely.
Lots of other small businesses with large energy use will go bump too, processes that use ovens, kilns etc will struggle to survive.
Not only that, booking a session is impossible so I don’t bother anymore. Side complaint: the user interface for the EveryoneActive website makes me want to look for a swimming slot even less. And you have to make an account for each leisure centre under the same brand. Ridiculous.
So, all the swimming pools are being closed, we’re told constantly from the age of 5 not to swim anywhere other than a pool because we’ll drown, and even ignoring that the sea and rivers are full of sewage and the lakes are private property.
For an island nation we really give no fucks about swimming, which is sad, really.
We’re going to end up with a similar situation to the USA, where the provision of public pools and swimming lessons is so poor, that large parts of the lower socio-economic classes cannot swim. This is how you end up with so many multi-person drowning stories from over there.
Oh well, I’m sure Truss or Sunak will be along at some point to tell us that the way to prevent drowning is to pull yourself up by your bootstraps.
What a first world problem to have 🙂
I live in Swindon. The outcry over the closure of The Oasis was massive. Any fucks given by those in charge? Nope…
Everything I’ve heard about public pools makes me just think “they were barely open anyway”
I’ve heard nothing but bad things about our local pool… they can arbitrarily tell you to leave because “your time is up” but there’s no actual guarantee of time, it’s all based on some hidden metric for how busy it is. The number of actual free swim sessions is basically zero too as the pool is constantly in use for one event or another
We used to have a Virgin Active here, and they had a pool that would have been much better than the one the council contracted out to Freedom Leisure… then PureGym took it over and the pool was filled in (or covered probably, filling in sounds expensive)
It’s very simple
If the government doesn’t provide support, even with raising prices, these places become unviable, especially public sector. The cost to provide support is relatively low in the face of some guarantees made, but the government is clearly reluctant to do so
Remember, businesses are not subject to the price cap.
This will incur additional costs (swimming is used the disabled and elderly, and helps to relieve pain as it’s often the only exercise they can do), cost more lives as kids cannot learn to swim, and cut off our Olympic talent. It will make access to a swimming pool – even more than now – based upon wealth, and limited to private clubs and wealthy local authorities.
Swim England and other bodies have been raising the alarm about this since the New Year. It is – as someone who’s swam for 30+ years – so frustrating.
Swimxit. Just think about the millions that will go to NHS, thanks to those pool closures.
If only leisure centres had large roofs making solar panels a viable measure in reducing energy consumption… why in gods name are we not making all new building use solar panels. The cost would decrease with the forced increase in production too.
If they did adult only swimming pools I’d maybe bother paying the crazy prices but the idea of getting in water kids have been shitting in all day isn’t a leasurely thought.
This is worrying. Everyone should at the very least know how to keep themselves afloat if they happen to fall into water- say a boat capsizes, or you’re on holiday and the sea current is stronger than you expected, or even if you get in a pool and have a cramp or faint for some reason. Drowning is a leading cause of death for British people abroad. If pools close, more people won’t be able to learn.
Yet more blood from the stone.
This also affects things like hydrotherapy and aqua aerobics. Pools are not just for learning how to swim: they are great for staying in shape, physical therapy and socialising. Pools are vital in society and we will see them go the way of libraries at this rate, where people only care once they are gone and never coming back.
No worries, I hear Rishi Sunak’s massive outdoor pool (currently under construction) is coming along nicely.
Good, people shouldn’t be using water so frivolously during this unprecedented HEAT WAVE
You can bet all the Tory MPs and wealthy donors still have access to pools.
Enough is enough.
If the common folk want to swim let them on their annual skegness holiday week… the other 51 weeks working to the bone to extract shareholder profits. It is after all the Tory way.
My local pool is finally back open, but no swimming lessons. The pool in a more affluent area on the far side of the Borough opened immediately after lockdown restrictions with its full timetable of classes and lessons restored. The pool in the poorest area was closed down and is now a gym.
We ungrateful plebs would do well to remember that basic recreational facilities are the privilege of the ‘hard working’ rich. We should know our place.
Geez, I thought it was just me! Trying to find an open pool for lap swim has become impossible. Local council pool is half closed due to lack of lifeguards, covid, plant breakdown, pick an excuse. My next two options are both outdoors, one heated, and conveniently no booking required but either the busses/Overground have been borked every weekend so I can’t get to them. Local private gyms have either no pool, its some bizarre length of 17m, or its three lanes wide.
Just looking around at all the council pools in London I have had access to in the last ten years and a lot of these must be nearing end of life for either the building or the physical plant. At some point some serious investment will need to be made and the covid-era restrictions stood down. Right now it feels like an impasse.
Our local pool was looking run down in the 90’s then they refurbished it and closed it for a year now it’s great. It’s also a library and community centre I think.
It’s alright, my neighbour, we call him Rish, has just installed a new pool saves us going to the public one!
I tried to get lessons for my kid this year, even the *waiting* lists were closed ☹️
Our local one was closed due to lack of funds, and the council have spent 2.5 years playing fantasy swimming pool with the locals (this pool will apparently also be the library, scout hut, community centre and health centre, in one building..).
They have thus far failed to respond to the elephant in the room – if you didn’t have the money to keep the existing pool open, where is the money coming from to knock down what was there before and build this grand complex three times the size?
What do you expect, with this government. There one thing you can be sure with this government, always expect the worst, unless you are rich, then you can expect to get richer.
My hoemtown is along one of the UKs major rivers and a few years back the Tory council sold off the swimming baths so they could open a new one in the next town over, which is effectively a replacement for the swimming baths of two towns. They sold the old swimming baths (and leisure centre) off to a private company and put a condition on the sale stating that it can’t be used as a public leisure facility because it would compete with the new facility, which incidentally is not big enough for the demand.
Not sure how this isn’t a breach of competition law, but either way the regulator didn’t want to know.
Pools are all but shut to working people anyway. Open lane swimming is only available in most pools during work hours. Any time someone who works for a living would be available to swim is taken up by lacklustre coached clubs or questionable lessons from teachers distracted by the fresh out of school life guard.
That’s before you even see the price of it.