Maximising the life of Tranent’s Loch Centre swimming pool is a top priority, a Labour administration councillor has said.

Councillor Colin McGinn, a ward member for Tranent, Wallyford and Macmerry, gave an update on the pool, which has been closed since January, at a meeting of Tranent and Elphinstone Community Council.

The pool and health suite (jacuzzi and spa) at the Loch Centre, which first opened in 1973, have been closed since January, initially to repair the pool’s filter; however, upon inspection, “structural issues with the sprayed insulation” in the roof of the building were found.

A report on the cost of repairs for Loch Centre, as well as Preston Lodge High School, Prestonpans, and The Brunton theatre, Musselburgh – both of which have been identified as having been constructed with potentially unsafe reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RACC) – is expected to go before councillors next month.

Mr McGinn said he hoped a price for repairs would be established at the meeting.

He said: “I certainly hope to have the figures for repairs in the October meeting. The next steps can be worked out when we have a figure.

“Right now we are only looking at how we can repair the building. I do not envisage Tranent ever being without a swimming pool.

“What we need to work out is how we repair the building. Do we do a job that only gives us a few more years out of the pool before more work is needed? Or do we invest and repair it so it lasts another 25 years or more?

“It is an old building, that is the issue.

“I would like us to look at long-term solutions rather than short-term.”

Mike Falconer, community council chair, added: “I think I can say confidently that we as a community council are fully in favour of a long-term solution.”