Scalloway Pool ‘far more than a building’, protesters say
Campaigners will hold a peaceful march in Lerwick on Friday
A FRESH call has been made for a “sustainable way forward” to be found for the Scalloway Pool as campaigners plan a march through Lerwick later this week.
The Save Scalloway Pool action group and its supporters will rally support on Friday, starting their march at the Clickimin – the home of Shetland Recreational Trust (SRT).
The Scalloway pool closed at the end of March amid widespread opposition from the community campaign group, with the SRT saying it needed to shut one of its eight facilities to remain financially sustainable.
Since then there has been little in the way of formal updates, with SRT chief executive Robert Geddes saying last month that he was not aware of any formal proposals for retaining or repurposing the building.
The campaigners’ walk will kick off at the Clickimin car park on Friday at 10.30am.
It will head to the North Road office of Shetland Charitable Trust (SCT), the SRT’s core funder.
The march, described as a peaceful one, will then make for Shetland Islands Council’s (SIC) North Ness headquarters before returning to the Clickimin.
Save Scalloway Pool’s Yvonne Clark said the group and its supporters “object to how the whole situation with the pool has unfolded and still think the pool should be preserved and protected by SRT, SCT and SIC for the whole of the central area”.
“With 5,000 voices united behind our petition, we are having a peaceful march on Friday 14 August to show the strength of feeling that Scalloway Pool is far more than just a building, she added.
“It is very important to our village and surrounding communities, for teaching essential swimming and survival skills, for education and for health and wellbeing.
“We call on the SRT, the SCT and the SIC to listen to our community, recognise the overwhelming strength of public support, and work together with us to find a sustainable way forward.”
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.
