£1 million investment planned for county’s swimming pools
29 Jan 2019 ARCHIVED (over 3 months old) - view latest news
Six swimming pools across the county are to be upgraded as part of a major £1 million investment programme by Active Northumberland and Northumberland County Council.
The work will involve the refurbishment, repair or replacement of the swimming pool operating plant, replacing with more energy efficient and environmentally friendly equipment.
The swimming pools that will be having the improvement work are: Rothbury, Willowburn Sports and Leisure Centre in Alnwick, Wentworth Leisure Centre in Hexham, Prudhoe Waterworld, Blyth Sports Centre and Concordia in Cramlington.
There will be temporary pool closures while the work takes place and any swimming lessons that are pre-booked and are affected by the closures will be moved to an alternative centre, wherever possible, or carried forward as credits.
Rothbury swimming pool is the first pool to have the work carried out. It will be closed temporarily, from February 8, for one week. The gym and fitness area will remain open as normal.
Mark Tweedie, Chief Executive of Active Northumberland, the charitable trust that delivers leisure services for the county said:
“It’s really important to keep our facilities in good repair so we are investing to make much needed repairs and upgrades. Unfortunately the work required cannot be safely carried out while the pools are open, so we have chosen to schedule the work at the quietest time of the year for our pools to minimise disruption. We’d like to thank our swimmers for bearing with us and we apologise for any inconvenience caused.”
A standard sized swimming pool such as Wentworth, holds 644,656 litres of water that is constantly pumped through filtration units, heated and disinfected to ensure that water quality remains excellent at all times.
Northumberland County Council has funded the major £1 million investment.
Councillor Cath Homer, cabinet member with responsibility for leisure said: “ Our swimming pools are a really important part of the local community, but they are very costly to run with a big mechanical operation taking place behind the scenes to keep the water warm and clean. The work that is being carried out to upgrade the swimming pool plant will ultimately make the pools far more energy and cost efficient to operate.”