DUNOON could be left without a public swimming pool for up to two years as plans progress to identify a site for a replacement facility.
The issue was raised at this week’s Dunoon Community Council (DCC) meeting at the Queens Hall, where it was confirmed that an official announcement for the site of a new leisure facility has still to be made and probably won’t be until the end of this year.
It’s understood the Riverside Leisure Centre in Dunoon has a limited lifespan. Council officials have confirmed that the building has only a couple of years of use left, as it has major structural issues.
Now concerns have been raised about an overlap where Dunoon is left without a public swimming pool while the new facility is being built and the old one is being demolished.
Speaking at DCC’s meeting on Monday night, Dunoon ward councillor and joint depute leader and policy lead for finance and commercial services for Argyll and Bute Council, Ross Moreland, explained that Dunoon would not go without a pool.
He said: “I think past the end of 2028, start of 2029 you’re starting to get to the point where there’s a chance of it closing down, but nothing is written in stone. I think past 2029 it would be more likely to see things happen, such as taking the flume down to alleviate pressure on the structure.”
When asked if there could be a period of two or three years where Dunoon would be left without a public swimming pool, Councillor Moreland said: “I think there could be a gap in provision where we would be looking at the end of 2030 for a new facility to open. We could keep the Riverside running but I don’t think we could guarantee that past 2029.”
Councillor Moreland went on to explain that even though the Riverside Leisure Centre could be kept open, the facility would have to operate at a limited capacity, in that the swimming pool would be open to the public and nothing else.
Councillor Moreland said: “We’d have to look at putting changing rooms at the side of the pool to try and take as much pressure off the structure as possible.”
Responding, community councillor Fruake Thornton said: “I think it makes no sense to deny children a chance to learn how to swim. The schools go there and the kids learn how to swim, and if there’s two or three years without a facility then that’s detrimental for a whole generation of children.”
Considering the age of the current swimming pool, being around 60 years old, should the process of establishing a new facility not have happened sooner than this?
Councillor Moreland explained: “I was a teenager in Dunoon swimming club when the refurbishment of the building took place, and the building back then would have been around 39 years of age. My understanding is that the work back then was more cosmetic rather than structural. I wouldn’t want to blame anyone over it, but I think maybe then would have been the time to sort it.”
It’s understood it could take five years to dismantle and demolish the Riverside Leisure Centre due to its asbestos content, a similar timeframe to Helensburgh’s old leisure facility, which was also a 60-year-old structure. An announcement on the location of the site of a new leisure facility is expected to be made around November of this year.
