The Department of Education, Sport and Culture has made a recommendation to close the Southern Swimming Pool – this motion will be put to Tynwald vote at the end of February and a vote by MHKs and the Legislative Council will decide its fate.
The decision has been made for ‘financial reasons’, with the department suggesting it would cost around half a million pounds to keep it afloat.
A report looking into ‘Regional Sports Hubs’ by the Department of Infrastructure and the DESC says there’s ‘no situation’ where this amount of money could be found.
Each regional pool (Western, Northern and Southern) is part funded by the areas respective local authorities through a separate rate, and the other part is from the government.
They also have a board which has local authority representation, Juan McGuinness is the Chair of the Northern Local Authority Swimming Pool Board:
The pool in the south has been open since the 1970s and is the oldest regional pool on the Island.
More than 500 primary school children use it for their weekly lessons as part of the curriculum.
The new report also says it would cost £11 million to make sure all regional pools are operational for the next 30 years.
Concerns have been raised about the condition of the southern facility and the amount of maintenance required.
But Vice Chair of Castletown Commissioners Beth Cannan says the ‘social impact’ and ‘community aspect’ of the pool cannot be overstated:
By Emma Draper – Local Democracy Reporter
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