More crisis-hit public facilities could be forced to shut in Aberdeen it is feared – as concerns are raised the shock closure of the Beach Leisure Centre pool could be made permanent.
Local authority chiefs are being urged to use extra millions saved over the course of the last year to undo the temporary shutdown.
The city council and its leisure operator Sport Aberdeen this week announced the move, lasting from the end of the summer holidays until at least next March.
The remainder of the Beach Leisure Centre remains open.
Alistair Robertson, the head of Sport Aberdeen, said counterparts across the UK face a “crisis” due to soaring energy costs.
He said the city’s leisure company was facing “unprecedented and unsustainable” rises in bills nearing £500,000, forcing action to protect the rest of their sports centres and pools.
In March, then in control Labour and the Conservatives cut Sport Aberdeen’s annual budget by 5% or £274,000.
A month later, the UK leisure industry warned closures like the one at the Beach Leisure Centre pool were likely to come in the face of the rising cost of energy.
Fears temporary beach pool closure is ‘thin end of the wedge’
However, there are fears the temporary move is a stepping stone towards forever closure.
New sports facilities – packaged alongside a replacement stadium for Aberdeen FC – are expected to form part of a £150 million regeneration effort of the beach and city centre areas.
But those are still years away from opening – and are still yet to even be confirmed.
Mr Robertson, in announcing the shutdown, admitted the flumes and wave machine at the pool had “continually failed to the point that they are no longer operable”.
The closure of the beach pool, which opened in 1989, will be reviewed in the spring.
But Labour leader on the council, Sandra Macdonald, blasted the “very little detail” at present, as well as a “very worrying” lack of consultation.
“It seems to be temporary but there is no date as to when it might open,” she told us.
“I am concerned this is the thin end of the wedge and this might be made permanent.
“This feels like the first cut by the new regime – with little or no consultation.
“It has just come out of the blue.”
As the leader of the largest opposition group, Mrs Macdonald holds the convenorship of the powerful audit, risk and scrutiny committee – and has pledged to probe Sport Aberdeen bosses on the closure.
She added: “It is difficult to know what to worry about next, but this is not a good start.
“We have all known for a long time that prices have gone sky high for energy so this could have been handled in a far better way.”
Councillors will next week be briefed on the soaring costs faced across its operations – from energy prices to building materials.
Resources director Steve Whyte highlighted 35% increase in gas prices between March and April alone or a 148% rise over the last year.
Calls for surplus millions to be used to keep beach pool open
But at next Tuesday’s meeting, he will also speak to multi-million-pound underspends by the council last year.
Between the general and common good funds, there was a surplus of nearly £3m.
Ryan Houghton, the Conservative group leader who was finance convener up until last month’s election, has urged the new leadership to use that cash to keep the beach open.
“This is an out-of-the-blue decision that did not need to be taken,” he said.
“I appreciate rising energy costs are an issue however the new administration has been handed in-year surpluses.
“So on the face of it – though I know there would be more work done on this – it looks like there is a way to avoid an at least eight-month closure of the swimming pool.”
And Mr Houghton worried the “out of the blue” closure could be a “scary warning” of things to come under the new SNP and Lib Dem co-leadership.
SNP: Extra money would be better spent helping Aberdonians keep their heads above water in cost of living crisis
The nationalists, who boast near double the number of any other party on the council, stood on a manifesto to lessen the gaps in swimming proficiency in Aberdeen.
But – more pressingly – they and their Liberal Democrat partners campaigned on the soaring cost of living affecting many in the Granite City.
And new finance convener, the SNP’s Alex McLellan, made it clear where any extra money would go.
He told us: “The simple, but very grim reality is that there is a very real prospect that large numbers of people in our city could have to choose between heating and eating this winter.
“If there is any available money later in the year then our first priority needs to be to support our citizens through this cost of living crisis.
“Aberdeen City Council, like most of the people in our city, is experiencing rising cost pressures due to rising energy costs but also due to the war in Ukraine, Covid and Brexit impacting on the supply chain, so we need to fully understand how all these factors are impacting on our budgets before making any decisions about the further allocation of funds to external organisations.”
He highlighted the decision on the closure had been taken by Sport Aberdeen.
While overseen and funded by the local authority, the charity operates at arms-length from Town House chiefs.
“Mr Houghton will recall the budget cuts he imposed on them at the March council meeting,” Mr McLellan concluded.
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