While Britain has basked in one of the sunniest summers on record, the Greenbank Pool in Street has had to remain shut - but the team have been busy behind the scenes preparing for 2021.

This has included visiting several outdoor pools across the South West to learn how they have been operating in the pandemic so that Greenbank can ensure their systems are successfully up and running in 2021.

Included in the developments for next year will be an online booking system. This will hopefully reduce queuing and keep everyone safer from the risk of infection.

From 2021 the pool's entry policy will be online booking only. All swimming pools operating this year, since the pandemic began, have had to take this step so Greenbank will be following their lead.

The pool hopes to offer community workshops for any less IT proficient pool users so they don't miss out on a swim.

This summer with an empty pool there were no lifeguards on duty. However, the lifeguards do need to keep their skills updated.

The Greenbank Pool team was fortunate to be able to hire Millfield Pool in August so that their lifeguards could requalify and also learn the new Covid-19 protocol for lifesaving.

The pool team are very grateful to Stuart Mapstone who retrained them. If you are interested in training to be a lifeguard or a trained lifeguard and would like to work at Greenbank Pool next year, you can contact the pool team via [email protected] by February 1.

When lockdown began in March, Greenbank Pool was installing new boilers at a substantial cost. The new heating system is now ready to fire up for spring 2021.

Dave Mogg, the pool manager, said: "Their installation means we will be able to keep the pool at a constant temperature without using as much energy, which is great news for our environment."

To enhance the environment further, the pool has got new litter bins which it hopes will encourage better recycling. The bins have a clear compartment for recyclables such as plastic bottles, paper and cardboard.

Reducing the pool's waste in 2021 is a key goal for the team, who hope to encourage pool users to bring food products/picnics that can be reused or recycled. The bins will help everyone sort their waste so less will go to landfill.

Finally, promoting good health is high on the pool team's agenda. With this in mind, another development to improve all the Greenbank Pool users' health is that they are making the site smoke free.

The new smoke free policy will be on the pool website from January. This will ensure that the buildings, pool, parkland and pool car park are all more pleasant places for everyone and is particularly important for promoting the good health of young swimmers.