Fingal residents need better access to pools and pitches, new sports facilities audit says

Better access to swimming pools is needed across the county, says a new sports facilities audit conducted by KPMG Future Analytics for Fingal County Council. 

“Swimming pools have wide-reaching health benefits due to their potential usage by all ages groups as well as by people with disabilities,” it says.

It also calls for better access to sports pitches, through changes to existing ones, and the addition of dozens of new ones.

And the audit recommended where in the county new pools and pitches should go.

To conduct the audit, KPMG mapped 912 existing facilities. And also did a public consultation, “undertaken through online survey” over four weeks. 

They got about 6,700 responses, “predominantly” from the northern parts of the county: the Rush-Lusk, Balbriggan and Swords local electoral areas.

“There was a strong response from the survey indicating that there is a need, across County Fingal, for additional swimming pool facilities and ‘all-weather’ pitches,” the audit says. 

“The majority of respondents also indicated [th]at facilities in their area, across all categories, require various degrees of improvements to meet the local needs,” it says.

The audit also said that most of the facilities north of Swords are focused between the M1 and the coast, the audit says, “leaving rural areas lacking provision”. “Provision of these types of facilities in rural areas could improve rural communities,” it says. 

Meanwhile, “Fingal residents in the south of the county are often in close proximity to facilities within the Dublin City LA [local authority] areas,” it says. 

Although it identified a need for new facilities in specific areas, it says more than once that these do not necessarily need to be provided by the council.

“Private sector provision in addition to, as an alternative to, or in partnership with Fingal County Council can also improve people-to-facility ratios and enhance local access,” the audit says. 

Swimming pools

There are 10 swimming pools in Fingal now, the audit found. But there are parts of the county that are a long way from any of these, it says.

“The provision of and increase in access to swimming pools should be undertaken, the audit says. 

The audit identifies the need for “greater access to indoor water facilities” in Balbriggan, Rush and Lusk. They are “primary targets for improving swimming pool access/provision”, it says. 

Of these, Balbriggan should come first, it concludes. A pool for Balbriggan is now in the works – at last. 

The council said on 31 March that its plans to build a new swimming pool in Balbriggan have progressed to the preliminary design and planning stage.  

“It is anticipated that provision of a new swimming pool in Balbriggan would also significantly increase access in Rush and Lusk,” the audit says. 

Demand for pool access in Donabate and Skerries would also be met by building a pool in Balbriggan, it says.  

Swords-area councillors have been asking for a swimming pool for their area now too. 

Fingal chief executive AnnMarie Farrelly said at April’s monthly council meeting that there wasn’t anything in the capital plan for a pool there. 

But the council was due to present its sports audit “shortly”, she said, “and that will mean we’ll need to prioritising future projects coming out of that”.

The audit identifies Swords as a “Secondary target for improving pool access/provision. Access should be increased through e.g., seasonal pools, training pools or ‘Swim Box’ options,” it says. 

Other areas it identifies as “secondary targets” for improving pool access, that could be served with these types of options, include Belcamp/Balgriffin, Blanchardstown-Mulhuddart, and Ongar. 

Pitches

The audit also found that, “There are multiple instances of clubs and facilities, across the county that are presently ‘at capacity’, hampering the growth potential of clubs.” 

To address this, Fingal could increase the number of playable hours and days on existing pitches across the county by putting in lighting to allow play later into the evenings, and transitioning from grass to all-weather pitches, it says.

“All weather pitches, such as those provided through active recreation hubs, offer 10 times more play time than grass pitches,” the audit says.

It identified the need for new pitches in Balbriggan, Ongar and Swords, in particular.

“There should be a focus on the creation and maintenance of pitch sports facilities in areas that, according to the Fingal County Development Plan, are expected to have high growth, such as Balbriggan, Donabate, Blanchardstown and Swords,” it says.

There’s a need for two additional pitches in Balbriggan, nine additional pitches in Swords, and 16 additional pitches in Ongar by 2029, the audit says.

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.