Swimmers angry as plug pulled on Exeter pool

'The community has been let down'

Angry swimmers who dived in for one final session at Exeter’s Northbrook Pool say they have been let down by the city council.

Now they have pledged to take their custom elsewhere in protest at the way their council handled the community pool’s last days.

It said the pool was under-used and cost too much to run. It also said it faced a huge bill to maintain and repair the ageing facility, and voted earlier this year to hand the lease on the pool back to the Northbrook Trust, the charity which owns it.

Protesters mounted a long campaign to keep the pool open, saying it was a lifeline for many local people, and would have made more money for the council if it had been open for longer hours. It was closed to the public during evenings and weekends, for instance.

The pool hosted fitness and wellbeing classes as well as conventional swimming sessions, and many regulars turned up for its last day.

An Aquafit session attracted a full class, and more people turned up later to swim, to show their support for the pool and to say their goodbyes to fellow swimmers. Some have been swimming there for 35 years or more, and many come several times a week.

Protest co-ordinator Sarah Hornsby said: “I have swum at the pool for over 20 years, a third of a lifetime. Others have been going there for nearly half their lives.

“That is why it is so special to so many people. It holds many memories.”

Now many regulars say they have decided at the St Lukes University Pool, rather than give their money to Exeter City Council by using other municipal pools. They say they are still very angry at what they say was inadequate consultation by the city council in the run-up to the pool’s closure.

Cllr Diana Moore (Green, St Davids) worked with the community organisation that had been exploring the possibility of taking over Northbrook. She said: “The council knew two years ago about the problems with the pool and its financial viability,  but left it to the very last minute to make a decision. Then it did so without consulting with the community.

“This has led to pressurised decision-making. The community has been let down and the pool has been handed back with the council literally pulling the plug, which puts any future for the pool in complete jeopardy.

“The community has now lost a precious resource.”

Independent councillor Lucy Haigh (Heavitree) added: “All councils are under immense pressure to balance their books due to inadequate funding from central government and increased costs. The community group has worked tirelessly to keep Northbrook Pool open but through no fault of their own the closure of the pool is one of the consequences.”