Gas works in Ashburton have forced the closure of the town’s community-run swimming pool just weeks into the busy summer holiday period.

Ashburton swimming pool will close after its final session on Sunday (August 3) because road closures from Wales & West gas works will prevent emergency access to the facility. It is not clear when the pool will reopen as the roadworks are scheduled to last until early September.

‘In line with our emergency protocol and, after consultation with Devon County Council Highways Agency and Wales & West, the company responsible for the roadworks, we cannot operate the pool safely without emergency access,’ a spokesperson for Ashburton Swimming Pool trustees said.

Ashburton Swimming Pool chair of trustees Lucy Wood said the forced closure was ‘devastating’.

The closure comes after the pool had invested in major remedial work over the winter and had secured a £30,000 grant from Ashburton Town Council, generated from an increase in the precept, to continue essential repairs.

‘Our trustees, our manager, our lifeguards, everyone involved, has poured time, energy and care into getting the pool open this year despite enormous setbacks,’ Lucy said. ‘To now be shut down not by weather, not by funding shortfalls, but by roadworks completely outside our control—it is heartbreaking.’

Wales & West Utilities said they had chosen to undertake the essential works around Love Lane, Vealenia Terrace and Woodland Road over the summer holiday period to minimise disruption to the nearby Ashburton Primary School.

However, for Ashburton Swimming Pool, the summer holiday period ‘is our only viable operating window, the brief season in which our community relies on access to the pool’, Lucy said.

‘We appreciate that working on roads like this is not ideal, but it really is essential to keep the gas flowing safely and to make sure the network is fit for the future,’ explained Wales & West Utilities programme controller for Ashburton, Natalie Raphael.

Wales & West said it was working with the Trustees of Ashburton Swimming Pool to support their application for compensation under the Gas (Street Works) Compensation for Small Business Regulation 1996.

However, chair of trustees Lucy said the trustees were concerned about whether the pool would meet the scheme’s strict criteria. Furthermore, the compensation would not cover the reputational damage caused by the forced closure. The ‘loss of public faith, goodwill, and community momentum is what hits us hardest’, she stated.

‘We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to Ashburton Town Council, our local community, and every individual who has supported us by visiting and swimming in our pool this season. Their encouragement and financial backing have been vital, enabling us to open this year despite significant challenges,’ Lucy said.

While the unexpected closure is a considerable setback, Ashburton Swimming Pool intends to use the downtime to carry out essential testing and progress with the next phase of its fundraising and long-term sustainability planning.

‘This disruption comes at a time when the pool was beginning to recover from earlier difficulties, making the situation all the more disheartening. However, we remain hopeful that we will be able to reopen within a matter of weeks and ask our community to continue standing with us as we navigate this difficult period,’ Lucy concluded.