A swimming group has hit out at a further delay to repairs being carried out at the Olympia pools in Dundee.
The pools have been shut since October after a series of issues were discovered, including corrosion.
But a full tender for the work is still not ready – meaning major repairs in the £32 million building have still not got under way eight month on.
Work to bring the pools back into pubic use has already been delayed on a number of occasions.
Tender for Olympia work not ready
It had been hoped the report detailing the repairs would go before councillors on Monday (June 27) for approval, allowing contractors to finally get on site.
But it has now been confirmed this will not happen.
Councillors go on recess for the summer from July 2 to August 13.
It is understood some members may be recalled during that period to approve the tender – a rare move for the local authority – but a date for that meeting has yet to be confirmed.
It was previously estimated the work would cost up to £4.5m and take 45 weeks to complete, but both these figures could change in the tender.
David Haig, Dundee City Aquatics coach, now fears the closure could run for at least two years.
He told The Courier: “This is highly frustrating. The timescale keeps getting put further and further back.
“My fear is that it’s heading towards a year since the pools were first shut and there is still no light at the end of the tunnel.
‘This smacks of incompetence’
“I worry that this is going to go on and on, and the pools remains shut.
“I don’t know what their issue is. When council officers were asked in March if they needed specialists to advise they said they could deal with it inhouse – that seems laughable now as we are no further forward.
“This all just smacks of incompetence on the part of Dundee City Council.
“I fear we are years away from having the pools fixed and ready to reopen.”
Opposition councillors have also called for the process to be sped up.
Kevin Keenan, leader of the Labour group, said: “It’s really important that we find out what work is going to be required at the pool and how much that is going to cost.
“This must be dealt with as quickly as possible. We are in this position because of lack of maintenance on the part of Dundee City Council and it’s time we were able to let people know what’s going to happen.”
We had hoped [the pools would reopen] in early 2023 but given the latest position that now looks highly unlikely
Lib Dem group leader Fraser Macpherson said: I have sought assurances from the council’s chief executive Greg Colgan that we get full information in terms of tendering for this work as a matter of urgency.
“I was surprised to see there is nothing on the agenda for Monday. The longer this process takes, the longer it’s going to be before we finally get the pool reopened.
“We had hoped that this would happen in early 2023 but given the latest position that now looks highly unlikely.”
Report to come ‘in due course’ – council
A Dundee City Council spokesperson said: “The council is working on a report that will be presented to councillors in due course.
“We are also preparing a tender report detailing costs involved and timescales that will be considered at the same public meeting.”
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