Newry swimming pool repairs are “unlikely” to finish by their target date of September with a potential extension of work in to the new year.
Councillors raised concerns this week at the active and healthy communities committee with fears thousands of paying swimmers could be “lost permanently” to other districts.
Newry, Mourne and Down District Council’s (NMDDC) elected members took the decision behind closed doors in March to close the swimming pool of Newry Leisure Centre to facilitate a programme of works for and estimated six months.
Newry Sinn Fein cllr, Aidan Mathers said: “I am just asking if we can have some idea if possible around the reopening time of the swimming pool?
“I recall when this was first mentioned about the pool closing in Newry, that September time was the target date to get it reopened.
“But from what I’m hearing, it could be well past that.
“So, when could we see people back in the swimming pool?”
The local authority has recently projected almost one million visitors to its six leisure facilities in the next year.
However, the council did not adjust its figures for the possibility of a longer closure period.
City SDLP rep, Doire Finn, added: “I have had a number of people who have gone to another swimming pool, who are now being asked if they want to extend membership.
“If it is possible at all, to get a timeframe, in terms of trying to reduce costs for people it’s really important, for those who want to take their children swimming.
“They may have taken their children somewhere else over the summer, just to get some public idea if they need to extend any other memberships elsewhere.
“I’ve had people asking if we are sticking to the September deadline.
“If we don’t keep people informed, we could run the risk of losing them permanently to somewhere else.”
NMDDC recently published improvement statistics showing the number of actual attendances in Newry Leisure Centre alone last year (2023-24) was 331,546.
A council officer responded in chambers, saying: “I was down on site this week and there is a lot of work going on.
“There is a number of meetings with contractors over the next number of weeks to take place.
“In the next number of weeks there will also be meetings with representatives of swimming clubs and groups in early September to establish how the council can support them while the pool is closed.
“As a matter of timeframe, just to understand, thousands and thousands of tiles are due to come off that site very shortly.
“The process of putting the tiles back in, was always going to be around six months. Work started in June time.
“Is it going to be opened in September? It is unlikely at this stage. We will give a fuller update next month.”
