Re-open Ceredigion leisure centres and pools

Leisure centres and swimming pools are important in helping people to be fit and active, and yet Lampeter swimming pool has been closed for most of 2020, and for all of 2021 so far. Swimming or warm water based exercise, is also one of the most beneficial activities for people with many kinds of physical disabilities, people who have been unable to do other forms of exercise throughout the closures. Swimming lessons are also an important part of most children's childhoods and, as we are a coastal county, it is very important that our county's children learn how to swim. Social distancing measures are possible in the changing rooms through a booking in system.

Sport has a proven record of being extremely good for people's mental health; it it now being included by doctors as part of 'social prescribing'. After this last year, we find ourselves in a situation where depression and anxiety have increased dramatically due to the coronavirus health crisis. A recent study of teenagers showed that depression and anxiety more than doubled in the first 9 months of the pandemic. Whilst the risk of coronavirus remains low, as it always has been in Ceredigion, relative to other counties, it is more important now to support the physical and mental well-being of Ceredigion residents through the re-opening of leisure centres and pools, in line with the national guidance, which every other county in Wales is following. By helping individuals to keep fit and active, this enables them to be more resilient to infections such as coronavirus, thereby taking some of the burden away from the NHS. We hope that Ceredigion County Council aim to fix the maintenance issues as a matter of urgency.