News / Scalloway Pool closure: people report increased stress and social isolation as a result
Some families cancelling Clickimin swimming lessons already, survey results find
MANY PEOPLE in and around Scalloway have reported increased stress, reduced activity and social isolation after the closure of the Scalloway Pool in March.
That was one of the key messages after more than 500 people responded to a survey from the Save Scalloway Pool action group over a 13-day period, outlining the “significant negative impact” the closure has had on the community.
The survey was organised in an effort to give Shetland Recreational Trust, Shetland Charitable Trust and Shetland Islands Council a “better understanding of the impact closing Scalloway Pool is having in folk across Shetland”.
The results were revealed today (Monday), with the responses showing that people with reduced mobility and additional support needs appear to have been particularly badly affected.
Scalloway Pool was “consistently described not simply as a leisure facility, but as a critical community, health, and inclusion asset”, Save Scalloway Pool action group said.
Shetland Recreational Trust took the decision to close the pool on 31 March due to wider cost pressures, with services – including children’s swimming lessons – instead transferring to the Clickimin pool in Lerwick.
However the action group said some families were already withdrawing their children from swimming lessons in Lerwick.
This was because of noise and crowding at the town centre pool, children being given less individual attention and the “overstimulating environments”.
Eighty seven per cent of respondents said Scalloway Pool had positive effects on their mental health, while 85 per cent said the pool had a significant positive impact on their physical health.
“Since closure, many respondents report reduced activity, worsening mobility, low mood, stress, and social isolation,” the action group said.
A strong majority (94 per cent) also said that local groups such as schools, clubs and ASN groups had been affected by the closure of Scalloway Pool.
And 83 per cent said they believed the closure had significantly affected the local community.
There were also strong concerns raised about what the closure would mean for a seafaring community, and for local water safety.
Almost 80 per cent of people responding to the survey expressed concerns about reduced access to swimming lessons having an effect on future water safety for locals.
Nearly three quarters of people also said they would be “very likely” to use the pool again if it was re-opened.
Thirty three years of swimming at Scalloway Pool to come to an end
As well as the responses to the survey questions, 147 people took the time to write out concerns in a free-text reply box.
The action group, summing these up, said that the loss of the pool had been “particularly critical” for autistic children and adults, people with anxiety or sensory sensitivities, children with additional support needs and adults with reduced mobility.
Several people said they feared that the loss of the pool and its “preventative health value” would later increase NHS demand.
The action group said the closure “disproportionately affects lower income households, people without cars and elderly residents”.
And there was “widespread dissatisfaction” with a perceived lack of early community consultation and transparency.
Taken as a whole, the survey evidence presents a “clear, consistent message,” the action group said.
“The closure of Scalloway Swimming Pool is perceived by a large majority of respondents as a significant negative loss, with impacts extending beyond leisure into health, education, equality, and community sustainability.”
The results of the survey have been sent to Shetland Recreational Trust, Shetland Charitable Trust and Shetland Islands Council chief executive Maggie Sandison.
Sandison recently held a meeting with the two trusts to discuss the situation, with a report on the topic expected to come to councillors next month.
The survey results have also been shared with MSP Hannah Mary Goodlad, MP Alistair Carmichael and all four Shetland Central councillors.
Community councils in Scalloway, Burra and Trondra, Nesting and Lunnasting, and Tingwall, Whiteness and Weisdale have also received copies, along with several schools and parent councils in the Central Mainland.
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