Welcome to the new website for Harlech Swimming Pool.
Harlech Swimming Pool is currently undergoing massive changes with 2010 set to be a truly momentous year. Harlech Pool is currently owned and managed by Gwynedd Council, but this is set to change later this year when Gwynedd Council hopes to transfer ownership of the pool to a newly formed company.
The new company, which is called “Harlech and Ardudwy Leisure”, was formed by a group of local people to ensure the long term future of swimming and sport for the people of Harlech and the surrounding area. The new company has elected an unpaid Board of Directors to work with officers of Gwynedd Council to ensure the seamless transition of the pool from the public to the private sector.
The decision to form the new company and take over the running of the pool has not been reached lightly, but was the only option available to the community if the pool was to be saved from closure. Gwynedd Council maintain that they can no longer afford to continue to run the facility themselves and it was therefore felt that the only way forward to secure the future of the pool was to work on forming a partnership between GCC and the community to find a way of achieving this.
The majority of the directors of “Harlech and Ardudwy Leisure” have come from the action group “The Friends of Harlech Swimming Pool”. This group was set up in 2008 to fight the closure of Harlech Swimming Pool when Gwynedd Council announced this was their intention. The Friends launched a highly successful media campaign to persuade GCC to think again about the closure of the Pool, but it soon became clear that preventing closure alone was not enough and that an alternative solution was needed if the future of the pool was to be secured. Over the last two years a dedicated group of people have worked tirelessly to put together a viable business plan which Gwynedd Council eventually agreed was strong enough to carry forward.
“Harlech and Ardudwy Leisure” are now working closely with officers of Gwynedd Council to try and gain grant funding to secure the future of Harlech Pool. The company have developed an ambitious plan to increase the usage and profitability of the pool by building a climbing wall on the existing site, the creation of a new cafeteria, improved disabled access and a programme of extensive refurbishment. To this end a local architect has been commissioned to draw up the new plans for the pool.
If the company’s grant application is successful it is hoped that the improvements planned for Harlech Pool will meet the aspirations of the people of Harlech and the surrounding area for many years to come. The directors of Harlech and Ardudwy Leisure are wholeheartedly committed to achieving this goal and we would greatly appreciate your continued help and support.
Thank you for visiting our new site and we hope you find everything here that you need.
