On the side of the City of Neuchâtel, we did not wait for the filing of the petition to react. A reflection had already begun on this subject. It must be said that the drop in temperature of the swimming pools has already provoked reactions from the clubs concerned or from users.
That said, the decision of the City of Neuchâtel is not to change anything. For the spring-summer season, which begins these days and lasts until the end of October, the temperature of the swimming pools will not be increased. The authorities consider that with the mild weather outside, the current situation is tolerable. On the other hand, during the next cold season, the thermometer might be increased, subject to a normalization of the energy crisis.
Incidentally, the City of Neuchâtel has estimated the savings made thanks to this measure. It reaches nearly 40% between October and the end of February. A total of 283,000 kWh.
A neutral operation
A great energy saving, therefore, but which is not accompanied by financial savings. At the same time, in fact, admissions and therefore receipts from swimming pools fell. A loss of around 16,000 francs, the amount of which roughly corresponds to the reduction in energy expenditure. The two numbers balance each other out, resulting in a roughly neutral operation. It is difficult to say, however, that this decline in admissions is partly or totally due to the drop in temperature in the pools. The cold water may have put some users off, but inflation and other factors likely contributed to this as well.
Various situations in the canton
The position of the City of Neuchâtel is not an isolated case in the canton of Neuchâtel. The temperature of the swimming pools of Val-de-Ruz, at Fontenelle and at Geneveys-sur-Coffrane, has been lowered to 26 degrees. Again, the Municipal Council has no plans to raise it for the time being. On the other hand, in La Chaux-de-Fonds, the Arêtes and Numa-Droz basins are always set at 28 degrees. This is also the case, in the Val-de-Travers, of the EspaceVal swimming pool in Couvet. /jhi-cwi-swe
