Reprieve for Manx pool facing threat of closure

The Department of Education, Sport and Culture had recommended that the pool close on 31 March

A swimming pool facing closure on the Isle of Man has been given a year-long reprieve after the government accepted a plan put forward to save it.

The Department of Education, Sport and Culture (Desc) had previously said it intended to seek Tynwald approval to shut the Southern Swimming Pool due to shortfall in subsidies for regional facilities.

But after a "survival plan" was presented by local politicians and the pool board, the department agreed to continue the existing £434,000 annual subsidy so the facility could continue to operate.

Rushen MHK Michelle Haywood it was a "great result for our community, the pool staff and the pool users".

A proposal to continue to operate within its current subvention was presented to the department following a meeting on Thursday between the Southern Swimming Pool Board, Southern MHKs and local authority political representatives.

The plan would see increased payments towards the Castletown facility's operation in the contribution from rates allocated by the local authorities in the south.

Recognising the work put into the plan to save the pool, Desc Minister Julie Edge said it had been a "difficult period".

She said the pool was "coming to the end of its economic life and we are all looking to minimise the gap between failure of the current facilities and the development of a replacement pool".

Clarify plans

Ms Edge said she will be "seeking to clarify our future plans for a swimming pool as part of the new Castle Rushen High School development to the House of Keys on Tuesday".

Reacting to the announcement on Facebook, Dr Haywood said she has appreciated the opportunity to explain how the closure "could be turned around", as the recommendation for closure was "based on poor data, incomplete understanding of the pool finances and some unrealistic assumptions made in the Desc report".

The commitment to pay the subvention secures the pool for 12 months from April.