Swimming pool’s future is in doubt (From Ledbury Reporter)
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Swimming pool’s future is in doubt
8:50am Monday 14th January 2013 in News By Gary Bills-Geddes
A MEETING to save Ledbury Swimming Pool was cancelled at the 11th hour.
Disappointment and dismay followed the news of the cancellation with no new date yet scheduled for another meeting.
Now Ledbury residents are asking whether the swimming pool, which requires urgent repairs to the roof, will close.
Herefordshire Councillor for Ledbury, Peter Watts, arranged the meeting for January 15 at St Katherine’s Hall, only to cancel it this week, “due to circumstances beyond my control”.
He said he was “disappointed”, but added that key players were unavailable for the meeting, and it could not go ahead at the present time.
He said he could give no further details.
However, Coun Watts promised discussions “will continue in the near future”, including a public meeting, and the future of the pool was still “very high” on his priority list.
Town councillor and Ledbury retailer Annette Crowe said: “I think people may be disappointed, because this is obviously a major issue in the town.”
But Coun Crowe said she was sure there would be opportunities for Ledbury people to have their say in the future.
Former Ledbury trader and resident Yvonne White was planning to attend the meeting and said: “Ledbury people will be very disappointed.
“The situation is a matter of urgency, and something has to be done.
“Everyone is definitely of the opinion that we are going to lose the swimming pool.
“That is the consensus.”
The aim of the meeting was to set up a community task group, headed by town councillors, with the job of coming up with two effective business plans.
The purpose was to repair and save the pool in the short term and discuss providing the town with a new pool, at some point after 2017, at a cost of £3 million, which would have involved grant funding.
In the short term, the changing rooms at the existing pool need a £250,000 revamp and the failure of an air handling unit has caused condensation and possible structural problems in the roof.
