LLANELLI: Free paddling pools reopen for the summer holidays from today

Three free paddling pools reopen across Llanelli for the school summer holidays from today.

Llanelli Town Council is opening three paddling pools — at Crown Park, Peoples’ Park and Parc Howard — from Monday 20 July, running daily through the summer break.

The Parc Howard pool is run in partnership with Carmarthenshire County Council. Alongside the pools, splash pads at Havelock Park and Penyfan Park will also be open for the holidays.

Every pool is free to use, with no booking needed — families can simply turn up.

The pools were nearly lost. In 2010, Carmarthenshire County Council proposed closing them as budget cuts bit, and the town council took over their funding and management that April.

In the years since, the town council has gone on to directly employ its own seasonal attendants to run the pools, filling and emptying them and overseeing their daily use.

Today it maintains and operates all three — Crown Park, Peoples’ Park and Parc Howard — through the school summer holidays each year.

Each pool is staffed by an attendant who fills and empties it daily and keeps an eye on how it is being used. The council stresses the attendants are not lifeguards, and that children remain the responsibility of their parents or guardians at all times.

Portable toilets will be provided at Crown Park and Peoples’ Park for pool users, open only during pool hours.

The pools run daily but opening is weather-dependent, so they may close on cooler or wet days. The council says it will post updates when pools are shut.

Town Council Leader Cllr Sean Rees said he was “delighted” to welcome the pools and splash pads back for the summer.

“These fantastic facilities, together with the wide range of free activities taking place across our parks and community facilities, give families plenty of opportunities to keep children active, entertained and enjoying the outdoors throughout the summer,” he said.

He added that with many families looking for affordable things to do, the council was “proud to provide free and welcoming spaces that bring our communities together”, and thanked town council staff for preparing and maintaining the facilities.

The Llanelli openings come as Swansea’s free seafront pool at Blackpill finally reopened last week — the first time it had opened all season, after a sprinkler theft and a flooring failure kept it shut through repeated heatwaves.

For families across the region, it means free outdoor swimming is now on offer on both sides of the Loughor estuary just as the school holidays begin.