PORT Glasgow Pool Among Several Leisure Venues Expected To Stay Closed For MonthsSOME Inverclyde Leisure facilities are not likely to open before spring 2021, council officials have stated.
A report updating councillors also reveals that the leisure trust is projecting a £1.2million loss for the financial year because of the Covid pandemic.
The document states: “The recovery planning for Inverclyde Leisure (IL) will be phased and will always be subject to national guidance. Work has been ongoing to develop a five-stage remobilisation plan in line with Government and industry standards.
“The IL board will consider the order and phasing for the opening of facilities and different provisions.
“This will mean several facilities will almost certainly not open this financial year [before start of April]. These include the gym at Greenock Sports Centre, the climbing provision at Ravenscraig and some community facilities including Crawfurdsburn, Clune Park, Upper Gourock (Kirn Drive) and Grieve Road.”
The report continues: “The Waterfront swimming pool will open as soon as it is safe to do so. Also, Inverclyde Council have agreed funding to extend the opening of Gourock pool until the end of October 2020.
“It is simply not cost effective to open all of the pools in Inverclyde and this will mean that the Port Glasgow pool will not open until at least next Easter and the leisure part of the Waterfront pool will have limited opening
“Although facilities will only open when it is safe to do so, people will naturally be apprehensive about returning to use gyms and leisure facilities. It is also anticipated that people may well have less disposable income as Scotland recovers from COVID-19.
“This means that the sector will almost definitely continue to experience financial difficulties over the coming years and have to prioritise what it can offer.”
Councillors are being asked to approve £900,000 towards the IL loss for the year.
