East Ayrshire Council to help Visions while pool is closed

Last night, the centre announced that the pool would be closed "until further notice" due to safety issues.

An issue with the pool's boiler meant that water temperature was below what is deemed as being safe.

READ MORE: Cumnock centre announces pool closure 'until further notice'

Last year, East Ayrshire Council had pledged to help the centre in its struggles with rising costs.

Now, it has been announced that the local authority will be supporting the centre in its latest crusade to solve the issues while the pool is closed.

Richard Grieveson, depute chief executive at East Ayrshire Council, said: “As part of the recent Leisure and Culture Review we recognised the importance of Visions Leisure Centre in the provision of leisure, sport and wellbeing within the local community.

“The council has committed its support to enhancing the partnership to ensure a sustainable long-term operation.

"This included ongoing revenue funding support and a one-off capital funding grant and works to progress the various capital works are well advanced.

“Sadly, however, the recent cold weather has resulted in the failure of the facility boilers which has resulted in a required temporary closure.

"We will continue to work with the management of Visions to expedite the required capital works, which include new boilers, as a matter of urgency and look forward to the facility reopening as soon as possible.”

The pool is currently closed. (Image: NQ Archive) Centre users had become unhappy with the decision to close the pool, while some said their monthly membership payments had still been taken.

One person said: "Yeah this should have happened a whole ago. We never got a refund for them cancelling last min and kids were chittering in the pool."

Another added: "It's hard to be sympathetic to this when it's so badly mismanaged.

"The spa's been broken for at least 20 months, the rowing machines for 10 months, the bikes for five, the treadmills for god knows how long, the showers are ice cold, the hair dryers have caught on fire and then been removed (now replaced), the sunbed is a death trap, the steam room is cold, the hours aren't aligned to working customers and the body dryer just collects dust."

An updates statement from Visions  said that all swimming lesson memberships have been frozen, and that platinum membership costs will be reduced until the pool issue is fixed.

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The team added: "We want to sincerely thank you for supporting us through these challenging times.

"We are pleased to share that we’ve secured funding for a boiler replacement, new pool lining, and plant upgrades.

"We’re actively working with consultants and contractors to bring the pool back to full operation as soon as possible. These upgrades are critical to ensure the pool continues to serve our community for years to come.

"Thank you for your patience, understanding, and commitment during this time. We’ll keep you updated on progress and look forward to welcoming you back to a fully operational pool soon."