Merton Council and partner Greenwich Leisure Ltd (GLL) threw open the doors of Morden Park Pool today after five weeks of maintenance work. On the first day after reopening Merton children had fun at the Swim School which meets at Morden Park Pool Monday to Friday.
To fulfil that New Year’s resolution to get fit and healthy in 2009, the council is encouraging residents to take the plunge at Morden Park Pool following essential repairs to the pools’ boilers. While the pools were closed over the Christmas break the council and GLL also replaced the light bulbs above the training pool and took the opportunity to clean and repair both pools and the surrounds. The building was also given an early spring clean and was repainted where needed.
In addition to the recent works, Merton has invested £500,000 in improvements to all three of its leisure centres over the past year including the changing room facilities at Morden Park Pool.
Merton Council cabinet member for community services Councillor Maurice Groves said: ‘I am thrilled to see the doors of Morden Park Pool open again. We have appreciated residents’ patience while we’ve been doing the necessary maintenance works and repairs. The boilers are now functioning well and are heating the pool efficiently. Other improvements go a long way to making the facility a more pleasant environment in which to enjoy a great family day out.
‘In financially-stretched times like these we need activities like swimming which we can enjoy and don’t cost very much. Here we can splash out, at a very low cost, and gain all the health benefits of participating in this active recreational pastime.’
Lorraine Frake, one of the parents watching her daughter at Swim School said: ‘This is a fantastic facility for children to come to after school. It’s great to have Morden Park Pool in the summer when they can come and join in the summer activities with other youngsters.’
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Notes to editors
1. Merton Council will be offering free swimming to over 60s from April 2009.
2. For younger residents GLL, the company charged with managing the council’s leisure centres, already operates its ‘Kids for a quid’ initiative in partnership with the council. Children under 16 pay a £2 membership fee and are able to swim at any time for £1. This has been running for three years and operates Monday-Saturday.
3. GLL offers special monthly and yearly concessionary membership rates for Merton residents who receive income support, housing benefit, council tax benefit, jobseekers’ allowance, incapacity benefit or severe disablement allowance. Senior citizens (60+) or full time students living or studying in Merton also qualify for these rates. Where junior concessionary memberships are available a junior dependent of any of these is applicable (off-peak only).