Clickimin pool to open earlier at weekends

Going for a morning swim in Lerwick at the weekend will become easier after Shetland Recreational Trust decided to open the Clickimin swimming pool and health suite earlier.

A three-month trial from January will see the pool open from 9.30am on Saturdays and Sundays instead of the current opening time of 11am. To avoid an increase in staffing costs the pool will close earlier at weekends as well, at 6.30pm rather than 8pm.

Members of the trust agreed on the change after research showed a strong demand for an earlier weekend swim.

An electronic questionnaire found 72 per cent of 672 respondents – mostly youngsters in the eight to 13 age bracket – were in favour of the pool opening before 11am.

Trust general manager James Johnston said there was clearly a need to “harmonise” pool opening hours with other activities in the centre.

“Some activities on the dry side were starting before the pool opened, and we had a lot of parents coming and saying one child might want to go for a swim while another might want to go roller skating,” he said.
He added it was too early to say if the changed hours might be made a permanent feature.

“It will be carried out as a three month trial to see if it works out and if there are any comments from the public.”