WESTBURY Pool is closed for seven weeks while work on the facility is carried out.
The work includes the replacement of boilers, a new hot and cold water plant, air handling plant, and associated ductwork as well as the relocation of the chlorine tank. Wiltshire Council says the work “is necessary to keep the pool open for the foreseeable future.”
Due to the significant nature of the work, the facility is closed for seven weeks, which started on Monday 19th November. The pool will re-open on Monday 7th January, 2013.
Stuart Wheeler, cabinet member for leisure said,“The work undertaken at the pool will really make a significant difference and will ensure it continues as an important community facility.
“I’m sure residents will understand why it needs to close during this time, and I hope they continue to support it when it re-opens in the new year.”
The nearest council swimming pools to Westbury are Warminster Sports Centre, Trowbridge Swimming Pool, Melksham Blue Pool and Bradford on Avon Swimming Pool. All Kinetika members can use their memberships in these pools.
What does the investment say about pool’s future?
The council’s investment in the pool offers some reassurance to those concerned about the facility’s future, following years of fears that the pool could be under threat of closure.
However, it has not abated fears that Wiltshire Council will step away from the running of the pool and leave Westbury to run the facility itself, particularly in light of plans for a campus development in Westbury. Wiltshire Council states that the work is intended to ‘help keep the facility operating safely until a community-led campus proposal is brought forward.’
Neil Tribick, of Westbury Leisure Alliance and Westbury Amateur Swimming Club said, “On the one hand the work is positive news because the air conditioning has not been working for many months now and we’re pleased they [Wiltshire Council] are going to rectify what needed rectifying. It can’t be negative – if we couldn’t get them to spend money on the pool we’d be in deep trouble.
“But we’re still concerned that we’re being railroaded down a route that says they’re not going to have anything to do with the running of the pool in the future. They are presupposing there will be some sort of community-run swimming pool which has not actually been agreed yet.”
Short notice puts club in hot water
Although it welcomes the improvements, the pool’s biggest user, Westbury Amateur Swimming Club, says it was given less than a month’s notice to find alternative training venues for its 150 members.
Neil Tribick said, “Trying to find out what was going on was like trying to pull out teeth without anaesthetic. We kept getting whispers that work was imminent and kept reminding them we had 150 swimmers to find alternative venues for. It was inside a month of the due date [of closure] that we were told.
“We have now concluded a variety of sessions so we think we have looked after the needs of most swimmers, certainly for the period running up to the Christmas break.
“Of course, we are a little nervous that remedial works could over-run and we will need to keep an eye on progress so that we can arrange alternative swimming in January too if necessary.”
The Wiltshire Council incentive to ‘get fit for Christmas’, as reported in issue 625 of the White Horse News (dated 8th November 2012) does not apply to Leighton Recreation Centre or Westbury Pool, as incorrectly stated.
The offer only applies to Wiltshire Council-run centres, whereas Leighton Recreation Centre and Westbury Pool are run by DC Leisure.
