News / Close Scalloway or face insolvency – SRT says pool closure was ‘least-worst decision’
Recreational trust says Scalloway pool needs £1.2m refurbishment works in the near to medium term
CLOSE the Scalloway swimming pool or face insolvency – these are the two options Shetland Recreational Trust (SRT) says it has had to choose between.
The SRT has responded to Scalloway Community Council following weeks of criticism over a lack of consultation from the trust, and calls for it to reverse its decision to shut the pool.
In the lengthy response, the SRT said shutting Scalloway was the “least-worst” option available to protect sports and leisure services across Shetland.
The building would require around £1.2 million in refurbishments in the near to medium term to continue operating as a swimming pool, the trust said.
And it said SRT’s wider energy costs have doubled from around £500,000 to £1 million.
Shetland News previously reported that the SRT had decided it had to close one of its facilities to remain financially sustainable – with the Scalloway pool ultimately picked by trustees.
In a press release today (Friday) the trust said it “acknowledged community frustration” about a lack of consultation before it announced Scalloway’s closure in mid-January.
However, it said it felt consultation was only appropriate “where genuine alternatives” to closure existed.
“Trustees determined that there was no realistic option to keep the pool open without unprecedented additional financial intervention from either Shetland Islands Council or Shetland Charitable Trust – and no such funding was forthcoming,” it said.
Chairman David Thomson and chief executive Robert Geddes said trustees acted only after exhausting all other financial and operational options.
Thomson said it would have been “misleading” to have consulted on Scalloway’s closure knowing that there was no viable alternative.
Trustees “did not rush into a decision but took their time to assess what they could do to save SRT from insolvency”, the trust said.
“We do not have a choice,” said Thomson. “As unpaid trustees dedicated to promoting health, sport and physical activity in Shetland, we would not be closing a facility if we had a choice.
“But our legal duty is to ensure the financial sustainability of the charity. Delaying action would risk insolvency and potentially multiple closures with even less warning.”
The recreational trust said that despite years of cost-saving measures its financial position “remains fragile”.
“Even with record levels of grant support from Shetland Charitable Trust, the funding uplift awarded was below the level required to sustain all eight facilities in the long-term,” the SRT said.
“Internal modelling showed that maintaining the current network of eight sites would lead to effective insolvency within the current grant period.
“Trustees concluded that closure of a single site was the only remaining option to secure the charity’s future.”
SRT trustees have offered to engage on a potential community-led future for the building.
And the trust said it “would not simply sell the building to the highest bidder”, instead seeking to ensure the new owner “supports positive community use”.
It is understood that no formal interest has been shown yet in taking on the pool.
Thomson agreed that the Scalloway closure was a “major blow” to the community, but emphasised it was the “least-worst decision”.
“If SRT delays the closure and new efforts are unsuccessful, unsustainability becomes insolvency,” Thomson said.
“That would jeopardise jobs and the wider network of services that communities across Shetland rely on.”
SRT added Shetland will continue to have seven public swimming pools, which it said was “significantly more facilities per head of population than most comparable areas in Scotland”.
Around 150 people gathered at Scalloway Leisure Centre on Sunday to call for the SRT to pause their decision to close the pool, which was announced last month.
A petition to save the pool has also garnered more than 3,500 signatures over the past few weeks.
Services will move to other pools, and all staff currently employed in Scalloway will be supported and given the opportunity to relocate to other SRT sites.
The trust, a charity core funded by the Shetland Charitable Trust, said it had to reduce the size of its estate due to ongoing financial challenges, with the Scalloway pool ultimately picked due to factors including its proximity to Lerwick and public transport availability.
Become a member of Shetland News
Shetland News is asking its readers to consider paying for membership to get additional perks:
- Removal of third-party ads;
- Bookmark posts to read later;
- Exclusive curated weekly newsletter;
- Hide membership messages;
- Comments open for discussion.
If you appreciate what we do and feel strongly about impartial local journalism, then please become a member of Shetland News by either making a single payment, or setting up a monthly, quarterly or yearly subscription.
Already a member? Sign in to hide this message.
