Portishead open-air pool could be run by new trust
CAMPAIGNERS have welcomed the suggestion that Portishead's under-threat open-air pool could be put in the hands of a trust.
It is understood that an influential group of councillors have gone against North Somerset Council's recommendation that the pool should close.
Instead, the working party from the strategic planning and economic development scrutiny panel is proposing to explore the idea of handing over the management of the 1960s lido to a trust.
The news has been welcomed by pool campaigners.
STOP campaign leader Roger Whitfield said: "Members of the STOP campaign have been working very hard over the past few weeks to assist the working party in its deliberations.
"We have outlined the benefits of North Somerset Council placing the pool in the hands of the trust.
"We hope that North Somerset executive makes the right decision regarding the pool for the people of Portishead and the wider community when it meets next month."
The working party report has yet to be made public, but full details of the recommendations are expected to be revealed within the next week.
The working party has spent the last six weeks scrutinising a report on the future of the pool.
The report was put together by a review panel earlier this year.
The review panel – made up of three Weston-super-Mare councillors including the authority's deputy leader Elfan Ap Rees – said the pool was costing the authority £130,000 a year to run and should close.
But the report came in for heavy criticism after campaigners claimed it contained inaccurate and misleading information about operating and maintenance costs and pressed for it to be withdrawn.
The working party has been meeting with pool campaigners over the past few weeks to hear about their plans to manage the seafront attraction.
The recommendation and report by the working party will now go to the authority's strategic planning and economic development scrutiny panel on December 9.
The panel will then make a recommendation to the executive which will make a final decision on the future of the pool on December 16.
Chairman of the working group, Councillor Tony Moulin would not confirm the contents of the report but said: "The findings of the report have been completed. We have considered a number of options including the possibility of the pool being run by a trust. Our recommendations will now be discussed by the SPED panel."
A community trust has already been set up by members of the Save The-open Air Pool (STOP) campaign, backed by the Evening Post.
It has been called The Portishead Pool Community Trust and six trust- ees have been appointed to run it.
A business plan for the pool has been handed to the authority, outlining the proposals for running and improving the seafront attraction.
The campaign to save the pool has attracted huge support. Recently more than 400 people joined a protest march through the town.
Comments
by Annette Hennessy, Portishead
Wednesday, November 26 2008, 11:54PM
“Whilst I know Roger Whitfield believes there are only two options for safeguarding Portishead's open air pool i.e. closure or passing the amenity to a Trust, I hope the scrutiny report will also highlight the other possibilities as well.
These options include the council retaining the pool and actually managing and maintaining it to the standard it should have been over the last few years. Incidentally, recent statistics have indicated the pool was not making a "loss" and certainly was not the "drain on resources" North Somerset Council alleged was the case.
I do not believe this site needs to be developed into a leisure centre with sauna, gym and the like when information appears to indicate the drop in usage was as a result of failing to implement positive suggestions for improvement and insufficient maintenance rather than the weather! I hope to see a comprehensive and and accurate report that leaves no stone unturned.”