20 years ago Portishead voted against pool closure, now they take to the streets

A PUBLIC vote on the future of Portishead's open-air pool has been held, with a majority in favour of keeping it open.

But that poll was almost 20 years ago.

Thousands of people from across the town voted to improve it and keep it open when it was last threatened with closure.

The public vote took place on April 30, 1991, and was called for by the Portishead Sports and Leisure Association (PSLA) after it was revealed Woodspring District Council was considering closing the seafront attraction and replacing it with an indoor pool.

As a result, the PSLA, which has now disbanded, demanded a referendum was held and the town invited people to have their say on the future of the lido, which opened in 1962.

Three options were put forward.

One was that the council close the seafront lido and provide a new four-to-six lane swimming pool on a new site within Portishead.

Another was that the district council retain the open-air pool and make money available for a new dry sports leisure centre in Portishead.

The final option was that the council retained the open-air pool and upgraded it to provide a dual purpose, all-year-round facility.

A total of 3,404 people turned out to vote at the six polling stations set up across the town, with 1,967 people voting favour of retaining the pool and upgrading it – including putting a cover over it – so it could be used 365 days a year. The option to keep the open-air pool and provide a new dry sports centre received 1,207 votes and the option to close the open-air lido and replace it with an indoor facility attracted just 230 votes.

Woodspring District Council dropped any plans to close the pool.

But the authority still went ahead with a new leisure facility and opened the Parish Wharf Leisure Centre with a 25-metre indoor pool in 1997. The pool was funded by money raised from the sale of a piece of land at Wyndham Way to build a new supermarket.

One man who was involved in the referendum as a junior member of the PSLA was Dennis O'Neill.

Mr O'Neill, 60, of Avon Way, Portishead, said: "There was a clause in the council's constitution which allowed the people to call for a referendum. It was the members of the Portishead Sports and Leisure Association, led by the late Jeff Gamlin, who called for the vote as we were concerned about the provision of sporting facilities in the town and the council's idea was to close the pool and replace it with a new, indoor pool.

"The council was not happy because it cost money to open the polling stations, but we felt the voice of the people of Portishead had to be heard."

Mr O'Neill, who is also a member of the town's Christmas Lights Committee, remembered how people – including 529 under-18s – turned out in their thousands to vote.

He said: "The population of the town was a lot less in those days and I remember thousands of people turning out to vote.

"As I remember, there was no one who wanted to see the pool close and wanted to see a cover put on so it could be used more throughout the year. The referendum was well supported because people in the town at the time felt Portishead lacked facilities and the pool was very much needed and wanted it to remain open. This feeling has not changed and there is still a lot of support for the pool in the town.

"If we don't have facilities such as these, the quality of life for people living in Portishead will suffer."

The future of the pool is again hanging in the balance after North Somerset Council revealed it costs £130,000 a year to run.

Council leaders are recommending the lido is closed and sold off with the money raised going towards improving other leisure facilities.

A Save The Open-air Pool (STOP) campaign, backed by the Evening Post, has already has collected a petition of 3,000 signatures calling for the pool to stay open.

STOP campaigners want North Somerset Council to put the pool in the hands of a trust which would run it on a not-for-profit basis.

A public march is being held today to show the level of support for keeping the pool open. It leaves the Somerset Hall in Portishead at 11am and will go through the High Street and Cabstand, along Battery Road and Rodmoor Road and along Lake Road to the pool.