Northern Ireland

Pensioner told to 'get on a bus' and find another pool after local given over to 'family fun session'

Kathleen McKenna with her sister-in-law Geraldine McKenna outside Andersonstown Liesure Centre in west Belfast. Picture by Mal McCann.
Kathleen McKenna with her sister-in-law Geraldine McKenna outside Andersonstown Liesure Centre in west Belfast. Picture by Mal McCann. Kathleen McKenna with her sister-in-law Geraldine McKenna outside Andersonstown Liesure Centre in west Belfast. Picture by Mal McCann.

A PENSIONER said she was told to "get on a bus" to find another swimming pool after her local was given over to a `family fun session'.

Another would-be swimmer - a recovering cardiac patient in their sixties who was referred to a class by their hospital doctor - was also among those "turned away" from Andersonstown Leisure Centre.

Kathleen McKenna, a retired nurse, said she tried to book into the pool after a session in the gym, only to find the free swim concession for pensioner now ends at 10am - an hour early.

She and her sister-in-law found they had to pay £4, instead of the usual pensioner `recreational swim' rate of £1.80.

The pensioners were being charged for an expensive session with `access the flumes, slides and activities'.

"That's a more than 100 per cent increase to swim at 10am even though there was 34 empty slots in the pool.

"When I complained I was told they want families to have full use of it over the summer and it is only temporary.

"They are effectively telling us that want to be actively retired to go elsewhere. I was told to go to a different leisure centre and I could use my bus pass to go there.

"If you can't use the app that means you're sending elderly people who may have poor mobility on a bus just to book a slot for the following week."

There have already been complaints from users forced to use the Better app of council leisure centre operator GLL, which has usabilty ratings of just 1.8 stars out of a possible five.

A Better spokeswoman said the "temporary" reduction in free pensioner swimming is "part of our summer holiday activities... to allow families to access our unique summer family fun sessions which include flumes, slides and leisure water activities".

"Our over 60yrs swimmers are still able to swim nearby at Whiterock, Falls and Brook Leisure Centres during this time."

She said the £4 rate "specifically for the family fun sessions and being able to access the flumes, slides and activities. The price of recreational swimming remains unchanged".

However, Ms McKenna said the app would not allow them to book recreational swimming, with the only option the expensive `family fun session'.

"We only want a swim. We go in for 15 minutes and are now having to pay £4 or go to another leisure centre. I have been using it for 30 years and brought my children there."

Black Mountain PBP councillor Matt Collins said among other distressed constituents were "people who have been referred to classes after treatment at the hospital".

"It is in my opinion unacceptable that people are being forced to pay more for leisure services, during a health pandemic and at a time of unprecedented government intervention to support the sector.

"Further, considering some £105 million in rate payers’ money has in the past been pumped into the leisure transformation programme by Belfast City Council, it is unacceptable than an outsourced management organisation is expecting residents to pay even more to access services."

Better said it will be reviewing the programme in early August.