Rye Swimming Pool Set to Close as Energy Bills Soar
Rye’s beloved swimming pool is facing an icy fate. Freedom Leisure, the charity-run operator, announced it will shut the doors at Rye Sports Centre from November 1. Soaring energy costs have become too much to handle, forcing a winter closure with a hopeful review in spring.
Energy Bills Rocket from £8m to £20m
Freedom Leisure revealed their annual energy bill has surged from £8 million to a staggering £20 million. This huge jump comes despite the government’s temporary energy price cap for businesses. As a not-for-profit leisure trust running on tight margins, these costs are crushing.
“It’s been well-publicised that households and businesses across the country face soaring energy bills due to wholesale electricity and gas prices skyrocketing,” said Freedom Leisure.
Maintaining the pool alone costs £92,000 a year in energy – a bill the charity simply cannot swallow while trying to keep other community leisure services afloat.
Community Hit Hard by Winter Pool Closure
The closure will hit locals who rely on the pool for health and wellbeing. Freedom Leisure CEO Ivan Horsfall-Turner expressed his disappointment:
“We are very disappointed this escalating situation has come to this. It goes against our ethos and vision of improving lives through leisure. But with circumstances beyond our control, we must close the pool to protect the wider leisure service for the future.”
Freedom Leisure plans to reassess the situation next spring, hoping for better government support or shifts in energy prices to reopen the vital facility.
