Glasgow parents hit out at long closure of Scotstoun swimming pool

Marianne Heppell, 38, says parents are paying private leisure club fees of more than £100 a month, just to put their kids into lessons.

The Scotstoun resident, who has a five-month-old baby girl, is putting pressure on Glasgow Life to make the leisure facility a priority.

Marianne Heppell pictured with daughter Tess

Marianne said: “For me personally, all I use at Scotstoun is the pool and I’ve just had a baby, so I would have taken her to baby swimming lessons there.

“As it is, there are no swimming lessons I can get into, I’ve got friends with older children who can’t get to lessons too. There’s a wait for them at Clydebank, which is the next closest pool to us.

“The pool is a big part of exercise for people. I’ve got elderly parents who would use it, there’s no local pool to go to that’s open unless you want to go private.”

In December last year, residents were informed the facility would re-open in April 2022, following delays due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Marianne and Tess pictured with her friend Sarah Gandon, Sarah's son Fergus, 5, and friend Anna, 5

Work was originally meant to start in March 2020 – meaning the pool has been closed for more than two years.

But last week, a statement was released revealing the pool will not re-open until June – due to issues outwith Glasgow Life’s control.

Marianne added: “I’ve spoken to a private leisure club; they’ve not seen any dip in their membership numbers over the course of Covid, so people are still using the pool there.

“They’ve in fact said people are paying the private fees to join to put their kids into swimming lessons there. That’s over £100 a month, people can’t afford that.

“We’ve got a pool within walking distance from us and we’ve not been able to use it in two years. As far as we can tell, not much has been done.

“Really, we just want to know what’s going on. The kids are missing out on learning to swim, they’re not being provided with this skill at school. They’ve already missed out on enough stuff.

“I’d had heard it wasn’t going to open in April before they made the latest announcement. It’s just frustrating because you know how long something is going to take and if you’re sitting in the middle of April and it’s not done, then tell us it’s not going to be done.

“We want a realistic timeline for when the pool is going to open. Now they’ve said June, well I don’t know if it is going to be June. Is it going to be realistic, given the list of work that they’ve said they’re going to complete? Is it realistic that they’re going to get it done in that timeframe? That’s what we want to know, and if it’s not, when is it going to open?”

After speaking to other members of the community who shared the same frustrations, Marianne and her friend, Sarah Gandon, decided to create a Facebook group to gauge interest in taking action.

So far, more than 350 people have joined.

Marianne said: “We thought there must be more people like us who want some answers or want to put a bit of pressure on so we just thought we’d set up the group, see what people are saying, and then see if it’s something we need to take a bit of action on or try to get more support with local councillors.

“We’re aware it has been shut for a long time and there have been delays but now is the time to push, we’re coming into summer, people have missed out on a lot of things, and we need to get community services back.

“Everyone’s missed the pool, they’d like to see it re-opened as soon as possible. There are a couple of people whose kids are two and three and have never been swimming.

“Going to another area to take their baby swimming just isn’t an option for some people.”

A spokesperson for Glasgow Life said: “Unfortunately, due to issues outwith our control and that of our contractor, we have experienced several delays to the project and the pool in Glasgow Club Scotstoun will now re-open in early June 2022.

“The ongoing impacts of Covid-19, as well as the lack of material availability and delivery being felt worldwide, have resulted in delays to the refurbishment being carried out in the pool hall.

“The planned improvements include a refurbished pool area with a fully-inclusive changing village, new showers including private showers, improved lighting and ventilation, and a reconfigured pool depth to allow for more Learn to Swim lessons to be scheduled.

“While the pool remains closed, Glasgow Life operates 11 other pools across the city with Bellahouston, Drumchapel, North Woodside, and Pollok [re-opening Monday, April 4] as the nearest alternatives to Scotstoun.

“Furthermore, starting from next week, we’ll be operating our Free Family Swim programme across all city pools, giving families the opportunity to swim in our pools for free at a selection of times and days throughout the school spring holidays.

“The further delay is as disappointing for us as it is for users, and we apologise for the inconvenience. Please be assured we are working as hard as we can to re-open this venue to the public as soon as possible.”