No timeline for repairs to damaged swimming pool

Work to refurbish the swimming pool complex at the National Sports Centre started in 2018

No timeline has been set for repairs to the troubled main swimming pool at the Isle of Man National Sport Centre, the education, sport and culture minister has said.

Daphne Caine said while it was anticipated some tiling would need to be replaced, work could not start until the root cause of the damage had been established.

Issues with the tiling in two of the pool’s eight lanes has seen their use restricted since November.

The swimming complex at the sports centre has been plagued by problems since a £4.4m revamp began in 2018, with lengthy delays to the reopening of the leisure pool and water slides.

'Frustrated'

Ms Caine said while she appreciated it was “taking some time” to remedy the issues, “we must ensure the cause is determined as repairing the pool tiles without understanding the cause may result in the issue recurring”.

Finding the root cause was proving difficult “due to the original work being carried out through a number of contractors”, she said.

Raising concerns about the affect the restrictions were having on swimming clubs, Jason Moorhouse MHK said the “unfortunate nature” of the minister’s answer was that “we were told very similar things in February” and no progress had been made.

In response, Ms Caine told Tynwald although “everybody is really frustrated at the situation”, the department “remains in dialogue with the main and sub-contractors to establish the cause, and once that’s know costings can be established and works programmed”.

She said: “I’m afraid there is nothing we can do until the cause has been determined and agreed by the specialist contractors involved.”

Six lanes of the pool remained “fully open”, which “still allows swimming events and training to continue”, she added.