Greymouth will again be left without any swimming pool next week after the Grey District Council decided to shut the Runanga Spring Creek Pool early - and a week before the aquatic centre reopens.
It closes on Easter Sunday. That leaves no swimming options for the end of the long weekend, with school not back until next Wednesday.
It also means children selected from the West Coast primary school swimming championships to compete in Christchurch next Thursday in the Canterbury championships have nowhere to train in the meantime.
"We will open the pool if needed and if people still feel we have to open for swim lanes at 6am, we'll open for them," Westland Recreation Centre Nelia Heersink said.
"We are happy to do this but you always have to make an official date (for closure)."
The aquatic centre has been closed for seven months while the sagging roof beams were repaired, forcing the cancellation of swim school classes and sending others to the Hokitika pool and even as far as Reefton and Westport to train.
She said they had consulted with parties who might be affected by the closure and it was not an issue with them.
"We spoke to the swim club and they're fine with it, and we had a conversation with the schools and we offered to open it (Runanga pool) if they made an arrangement for it. But it's not an issue for them."
She said the reason for having no public pool officially open from Monday through to Friday next week was to ensure pool staff were properly trained and assessed.
"They need to be certified. We have new staff, six at least, mostly lifeguards and senior lifeguards. There's a major difference between working in the Runanga pool and the recreation centre. We need a full induction service."
Spring Creek Pool came to the rescue during the seven-month Greymouth shutdown, and two councillors say it should have been kept open longer.
Earlier this year the Grey District Council spent $30,000 installing heat exchange equipment at the pool, which was previously unheated and therefore subject to a shorter season.
"It's a million dollar asset and now that it's heated I can't understand why the season can't be longer," Cr Cliff Sandrey said.
Cr Anton Becker echoed that view: "It should be open for at least for an extra month."
Cr Sandrey said funding for heating would be an issue if the season was extended but he believed the spin-off of this summer when Greymouth swimmers had to travel to Runanga would be beneficial in the long term.
"It's been good for Runanga. Many people have been surprised by the quality of the pool. A lot of people don't know how good it is."
- by Chris Tobin
