With public schools set to close tomorrow (14 December), the stakes are that much higher for the City of Cape Town to get the Newlands Swimming Pool ready to open for the summer holidays.
After five years of being closed for repairs, the pool finally opened to the public in March this year.
It closed for the winter season at the end of May with plans to reopen last month (November).
However, a chlorine gas leak detected in the plant room in October put paid to these plans with a new opening date provisionally set for Thursday 1 December.
Last week, Patricia van der Ross, the City’s Mayco member for community services and health, told People’s Post that contractors were currently on-site at the Newlands Pool to complete the repairs and maintenance work by Wednesday 7 December, after which repairs would be assessed and the opening date confirmed.
“We reassure the community that we are putting in the necessary work to ensure the safe opening of the pool without delay,” said Van der Ross.
Thus far, no opening date has been confirmed.
Mikhail Manuel, councillor for Ward 59, along with other City officials did an oversight visit at the pool on Friday 2 December.
Speaking to People’s Post immediately following the visit, Manuel said that there were a number of issues at the pool.
He said that although, the scale of the problems was quite large, the officials and contractors were working hard to make sure the pool opens as soon as possible.
Besides the chlorine gas leak, issues with water circulation in the baby pool and chlorine distribution in the main pool have been detected. “It is a reasonably long list that needs to be addressed,” said Manuel.
He said the delay in the opening of the pool was not only a disappointment for Newlands and Claremont residents but for the entire city.
“The Sports Science Institute was planning on making an arrangement for their professional swimmers to train in the pool. This morning, I attended a meeting at Southern Sun. They don’t have a swimming pool and they were going to refer their guests there. The impact is really far-reaching. I am truly sorry that we haven’t been able to get this right,” says Manuel, adding that he had asked Van der Ross to consider an investigation into why these issues went unchecked.
“It comes down to being accountable. We promised residents that the pool would be open by 1 December. We did not hit that target and will communicate the new opening date soon.”
Speaking to the frustration felt, both by him and residents, at the delay, he said it wasn’t being taken lightly.
“With that frustration, it is important that residents know that when we don’t reach our targets that we should be honest about the shortcoming.
“We expect residents to hold us to a high standard,” said Manuel.
March Turnbull, chair Newlands Residents Association (NRA), says they too are disappointed at the delayed opening of the refurbished pool.
The revamp and upgrade cost the City R22 million – more than double what was initially budgeted.
“Newlands pool has been closed for years, and the renovation was clearly enormously expensive, so I’m sure the City is as disappointed with their suppliers as we are with this outcome.”
He says while many Newlands’ residents used the pool regularly when it was open, and are keen to jump back in, it is the wider community who are probably disadvantaged the most by the frustrating delay.
“There are very few pools this size in Cape Town. There are even fewer with the space and facilities for people from all over the city to come and swim in a safe environment and enjoy a day out with their families and friends. It would be fantastic if the City could get the problem sorted out in time for this amazing community space to be enjoyed once again, by everyone, before the festive season is over,” says Turnbull.
