THE swimming pools at Better leisure centres in St Austell and Liskeard are being significantly upgraded this autumn.

Work worth £400,000 will take place in Liskeard from November 4 to January 27. The refurbishment includes fully relining the pool tank and all surrounding areas with resin to safeguard the stainless steel structure and completely redoing the wet side changing rooms.

The pool will reopen on January 2 and the changing rooms will be completed no later than January 27. During that period, customers are asked to either come pool ready as they did during the pandemic or to use the gym and studio changing rooms.

Work at St Austell will take place from November 18 to January 2. Worth £74,000, it includes relining the pool, reintroducing splash features and uplifting the pool’s surroundings.

Whilst both swimming pools are temporarily closed, arrangements are in place for members to use other Better facilities or have their memberships frozen until the pools reopen.

Operating under the Better brand, GLL is the not-for-profit social enterprise that runs nine Cornish leisure centres on behalf of Cornwall Council. A further capital investment of £559,000 is already underway to upgrade key fitness equipment in eight of the centres and introduce functional fitness areas in Saltash, St Ives and Bodmin.

James Curry, GLL’s head of service in Cornwall, said: “There has been no improvement work to the Liskeard pool area for twenty years and that’s been the biggest source of discontent for customers there since GLL took over in 2017.

“Our St Austell centre celebrates its fiftieth birthday on November 30 and, as a very busy venue, was likewise in need of major refurbishment. Some of the water features haven’t been in commission since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic so having them back is a big step forward.

“These are very exciting projects and, whilst some disruption will necessarily be caused over the next few months, they’ll make a considerable difference.

“There’s a great deal going on across our Cornwall-wide facilities estate at the moment and we’re all delighted to see it happening.”