Armidale Dumaresq Council dropped the pool entry fee to just $2 for children aged under 18 during the summer school holidays after lobbying from youth and school leaders.

They also called for extended opening times for the pool to include the April school holidays, claiming it would provide an additional activity for youth to do in the  break.

But the weather put a dampener on the plan’s success.

Councillors were told on Monday while entry numbers were up in October and November, they fell sharply over Christmas as temperatures cooled and there was more rainfall. The discount also failed to attract a rise in kiosk sales, since families can bring in their own food.

Worse still, the special offer drew a mixed response from patrons, with many criticising the move.

Comments recorded at the pool included, “Lowering the price just for children is discriminatory against age” to, “By dropping the entry fee to 1990 prices kids again will have no respect for what the community supplies for them”.

In fact the pool notched just 15,000 visitors over the summer, compared with 20,000 over the previous season.

Also, while revenues declined, wages and costs for chemicals rose.

Earnings from the centre reached nearly $21,000 last season, with that figure tipped to be $16,000 by the end of this season.

“I think the economics makes an increase in pool hours difficult to justify,” Jim Maher said at Monday’s Council meeting.

Pool attendances continued to dwindle as autumn kicked in, with only 13 people visiting the centre on Saturday and 23 on Sunday.

Nevertheless, councillors determined to offer fee differentials to the pool next season.