The Abbey Meadow Outdoor Pool opened today for six weeks. The pool normally opens in May but due to the increased cost of heating the pool (*) the council took the decision to reduce the season to what should be the most popular time, the summer holidays.
The timetable of hours can be seen at https://www.better.org.uk/leisure-centre/vale-of-white-horse/abbey-meadows-outdoor-pool/timetable.
Prices are up on last year but annual inflation generally is running at over 9%.
Adult is £5.35 (£4.90 in 2021)
Child is £3.30 (£3.10 in 2021)
1 Adult and 1 or 2 Under 3’s is £5.35
* A VWHDC press release said heating costs for the pool were expected to be around £107,000, compared to £47,000 in previous seasons. Presumably that is for a full season.
Could installation of solar panels across all the roof space assist with pool heating, with the cost of fuel and heating doubling / tripling it’s surely more viable these days… When the pool is closed the energy might be able to be channelled back to the grid?