Limoges, Granville, Versailles… around thirty public swimming pools closed since Monday
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About thirty public swimming pools, in Limoges, Granville (Manche) or Versailles in particular, closed their doors on Monday, September 5, the operating company Vert Marine no longer being able to cope with the increase in energy prices, a-t -she explained on Facebook.
About 10% of the 4,000 public swimming pools in France are managed by a public service delegation and not directly by the community where they are located. Often heated by gas, swimming pools are very energy-intensive equipment and bear the full brunt of rising prices.
The Vert Marine company had to close “for a temporary period” a third of its establishments and has placed “partially unemployed staff”she said in a press release sent to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The energy bill of this public service delegate went from “15 million to 100 million euros”that is “the entire annual turnover of the enterprise”. The company, which has been in discussions with communities since June, could not find a solution at this stage, she added. She says she does not want to multiply prices by three.
“Returning to bearable costs”
She calls it that “to local and governmental authorities in order to take the necessary and unprecedented decisions to return to bearable energy costs and to allow public service obligations to be assumed, and, in the first place, learning to swim, in particular by school “explains Vert Marine, which has 2,000 employees.
Of the 90 swimming pools and ice rinks it manages, some delegation contracts do not include the cost of energy. Since this summer, several French communities have decided to reduce the hourly amplitudes of their swimming pool, or even have lowered the temperature of the water to try to reduce an exploding bill. The trend could continue given the energy crisis.
According to the association Urban France, which brings together metropolises and large cities, around 10% of their members are considering closing swimming pools this winter. This question of swimming pools and ice rinks is on the menu of the government’s sports working group on energy sobriety. Last week, the sports and energy transition ministers stressed:
“With regard to swimming pools and ice rinks, work is carried out in particular with the representatives of these players [dont l’Union sport et cycle] and communities to find solutions to reduce consumption while preserving sporting and economic activity. Additional measures will be studied in the event of high voltages on the networks. »
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