Jedburgh Swimming Pool Faces Closure After Council Rejects Further Bailout

Local council members have decided not to grant an additional £80,000 in financial aid to a financially challenged swimming pool situated in the Borders region. In August, a financial support package had been sanctioned to ensure the continued operation of the Jedburgh facility, notable as the place where Olympian Lucy Hope began her swimming journey. Nevertheless, an urgent report presented to the Scottish Borders Council (SBC) indicated that the financial standing of the managing trust showed no signs of betterment. Consequently, the facility is scheduled for closure this week and will be kept under a care and repair arrangement while an assessment of future pool provision alternatives is conducted. Ruth Dorward, who serves as co-chair of the Jedburgh Leisure Facilities Trust (JLFT), expressed “great sadness and disappointment” regarding the outcome. A document presented to the councillors detailed the trust’s financial state and its appeal for funds to enable its operations to persist until March 31. The councillors were informed that without this financial endorsement, the trust would immediately cease its activities. Nonetheless, it was communicated to them that the local governing body bore no legal responsibility to furnish the assistance. Councillors representing Jedburgh locally, along with one councillor from Hawick, cast votes in favor of approving the £80,000 funding, but their votes were superseded by those of other council members. Ms Dorward stated: “We have made an enormous effort to try and turn things around.” She continued: “Mostly I am sad because I think it is an irreplaceble loss to the community of Jed – an asset which has been part of the town for decades.” She mentioned finding a “crumb of comfort” in suggestions that the decision represented a “reset” for the pool instead of a permanent shutdown. “The longer Jed remains out of commission, the less likely it is to open again,” she further commented. Carol Henderson, a user of the pool, remarked that its closure constituted a significant loss for the locality. She stated: “It is not just the swimming lessons and the swimming, there are other classes take place at the pool.” “I have been doing aquarobics there for 25 years and the majority of people that come there are just beaming.” “I know fine that when I have to tell them next week there is no aquarobics they are going to be very, very sad.”