Trust is a stoke closer to taking over Portishead pool
Plans to place the management of Portishead's Open-Air Pool into the hands of a community trust have taken a major step forward.
North Somerset Council chiefs have agreed to continue negotiations with the Portishead Pool Community Trust about its plans to take over the running of the seafront lido from the authority.
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The council announced last year it planned to close the pool – one of the last remaining outdoor lidos in the South West – because it cost £130,000 a year to run.
The news that the pool could close caused public uproar and the Save the Open-air Pool (STOP) campaign, backed by the Post, was launched.
As a result of the campaign, the Portishead Pool Community Trust was set up to take over the running of the pool from the council.
Trustees have now drawn up and submitted a detailed business plan for the running of the pool to authority leaders.
The plan includes proposals to revamp the changing rooms, install solar heating and put a cover over the pool to save energy costs.
A series of meetings have taken place over the past several weeks at which council chiefs have scrutinised the trust's plans for the lido, which opened in the 1960s.
Council chiefs have now agreed to take negotiations for the trust to take over the management of the pool to a more detailed level, although they have stressed no final decision on the lido's future has been made.
A further meeting to discuss the trust's proposals is due to take place at the end of the month.
Council leader Nigel Ashton said further information was required on some aspects of the proposals and suggested conditions of a transfer.
Councillor Ashton said: "Clearly we have a responsibility to the widerNorth Somerset community to ensure that any handover of the pool to a trust does not come back on the council taxpayer at a future date and that the proposals are in the best interests of Portishead residents.
Members are satisfied that the trust is approaching the issues in a business-like manner and appears to be committed to making its proposals work."
The news that more detailed negotiations are to start has been welcomed by trust bosses and members of the STOP campaign.
STOP campaign leader and trustee Roger Whitfield said: "This is excellent news and I am delighted that North Somerset Council is looking seriously at our plans to take over the pool.
"I believe we have a strong business case to keep the pool open.
"I am pleased that more detailed negotiations with the council will now begin."
A fundraising drive to raise £20,000 to get the pool open this season has also been launched in the town.
The campaign – Give a Pound to the Pool – has attracted massive support and the total raised now stands at nearly £7,000.
Mr Whitfield said: "The fact that the people of Portishead and the surrounding area have pledged money to save the pool shows how important the facility is to people
"We are continuing to fundraise and are more than a third of the way towards our target, but still need people to dig deep and help us secure the money we need."
A final decision on the future of the pool is expected to be made by North Somerset Council in March or April.
Comments
by Annette Hennessy, Portishead
Tuesday, February 03 2009, 8:19AM
“Whilst North Somerset Council did 'claim' that the annual subsidy for the open air pool was £130,000, this figure was not the cost to taxpayers each year and it included one-off electrical works which are still under question and which would not have been necessary if the pool had been maintained satisfactorily on a regular basis. The amount paid for the electrical works included overtime rates purely because the council left it too late to prepare the pool for opening in 2008. FFurthermore, a representative from Dalkia claimed the plant was "downright dangerous" and "had not been maintained compentently". It is the belief of many that this pool would not have opened last summer without the campaigning of the Friends of Portishead Open Air Pool ensuring the council took action.
I am sure the council has no objection to the Evening Post failing to fully inform readers of the true annual subsidy but it certainly does not help those who are trying to safeguard the pool's future.
Lets all hope the council rectifies it decision and fully supports the opening of the pool in 2009 and if we are all fortunate enough to enjoy open air swimming this year, it will be due mostly to the hard work of pool supporters rather than Portishead's town and district councillors. With the exception of Cllr David Pasley who has highlighted council failures effectively, others backed the pool with their names but little action.”