Cost of Living: Powys council to close pools over winter

Several leisure centres and swimming pools in one Welsh county will close over winter due to the cost of living crisis.

Powys County Council blamed the UK government for forcing them to temporarily shut its facilities to the public.

Freedom Leisure, which runs the facilities, proposed the changes due to the rising cost of energy.

The UK government said leisure centre bills had been cut this winter.

Councillors in the county agreed at a meeting earlier to temporarily close leisure centres in Llanfair Caereinion, Llanfyllin and Presteigne.

They also agreed to temporarily close swimming pools to both the public and schools in Llanidloes, Rhayader and Builth Wells, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

The closures will take place from 23 December to 31 March.

The council's cabinet member for economic development and leisure David Selby said he introduced the paper with regret and a degree of anger.

"We face a financial crisis not of our own making, councils throughout the country are having to take decision about much loved services - we're being forced into it," he said.

"The UK government has created the unstable financial market, and has not reacted to the energy crisis, the whole of the leisure sector throughout the UK has been affected."

He said councils have had to make really difficult decisions that "are not easy or popular", but needed to be taken.

Deputy council leader Matthew Dorrance added the closures were due to the UK government ending energy support for council-funded and public sector organisations.

"They made that decision despite there being a £100m need in Wales to address a 285% hike in energy costs - it is a mistake," he said.

Several opposition councillors said they were "furious" with the decision and how it had been managed.

Beverley Baynham, who represents Presteigne, where East Radnor leisure centre is located said: "No consultations, no discussions, just a done deal.

"How can a decision be taken at a cabinet meeting this morning when papers were not published until 18:06 GMT last night, this decision is being pushed through with not even 24 hours' notice, and no time for us to prepare and have a discussion."

She added it was an "ill-thought-out decision".

Conservative group leader, Aled Davies said it was an "appalling" way to run a council.

"With central government support we maintained leisure services during Covid-19 lockdowns, to blame the UK government is simply unfair," he said.

Head of legal and democratic services, Clive Pinney said: "The process we have adopted is an appropriate one, there is no need to have a consultation on a temporary closure."

The UK government said: "We know many leisure centres and swimming pools have faced significant increases in running costs, which is why our Energy Bill Relief Scheme means they pay less than half the predicted wholesale cost of energy this winter.

"Sport and council services in Wales are led by the Welsh government, the UK government is giving the Welsh government an extra £1.2bn over the next two years to deliver devolved services, in addition to the previous budget settlement which saw a record £18bn a year being provided."