A Keswick councillor is calling for the town’s public pool to be reopened after expressing concerns about the lack of proper swimming facilities for local youngsters.
Markus Campbell-Savours fired a string of questions about the future of Keswick Leisure Pool at Allerdale Borough Council, owner of the Station Street facility which has been closed for more than six months.
The pool attracted negative national publicity in July when photographs were published of its untreated water with a bright green layer of algae on top of it. Although the pool has been emptied and cleaned, there is still no sign of any other preparation for it to reopen despite swim facilities in Workington and Cockermouth being back in use.
The situation prompted councillor Campbell-Savours to ask these questions of the Workington-based authority:
- When are they going to reopen the pool?
- When are they going to start the process of cleaning it?
- If COVID-19 safety measures prevent them from opening the pool, what alternative provision are they planning for the residents of Keswick?
- When the local schools are ready to restart swimming lessons, what support is Allerdale going to provide?
“I am calling on Allerdale Council to act quickly to clarify a way forward,” said the Labour councillor, who is one of Keswick’s three Allerdale representatives.
He has previously said that Keswick needs a new swimming pool to replace its current one, which has a wave-machine and flume, but it is the shorter-term problem he is immediately concerned with.
He said he understood it was difficult to open a leisure pool with correct social distancing measures as has happened at Workington and Cockermouth, as this would limit the number of people allowed, making it economically unviable for the contractor, but added: “Choosing to keep the centre closed with no alternative provision would be unfair to Keswick residents, whose council tax will be paying for the facilities in Cockermouth and Workington.
“We are again reminded that Keswick has inadequate leisure provisions and deserves a proper swimming pool,” added the son of Keswick’s former MP Lord Campbell-Savours.
His concerns were shared by Helen Smith, of Latrigg Close, who knows how beneficial swimming can be for all the community from her work with the elderly and as a volunteer with Beaver youth groups.
“People are really frustrated,” she said. “It is just such a benefit when you swim but since lockdown our pool in Keswick has closed — and we can’t use the one at the Calvert Trust — and no-one knows when or indeed if it will reopen.”
Allerdale allows Keswick Leisure Pool to be operated by GLL, a national charitable social enterprise, under its Better brand name.
In response to Mr Campbell-Savours’ questions, an Allerdale spokesman referred to a statement from GLL which says: “A phased approach to opening centres gives us a chance to gauge which activities have a high demand whilst balancing the maximum numbers allowed at any one time in the spaces we have available.
“The design of the leisure pool at Keswick makes implementing a COVID-secure environment particularly challenging, which means the low number of visitors we could safely accommodate needs to be considered alongside a sustainable programme.”
