Pool reopening backed (From thisisoxfordshire)

Pool reopening backed

7:00am Thursday 18th October 2007 in

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THE re-opening of Banbury's open air swimming pool moved a step nearer this week when a working party that has been investigating repair and running costs, recommended the complete refurbishment of the facility.

The working group told this week's meeting of Cherwell District Council's environment and community select committee that a new outdoor pool - built from the original infrastructure - should be provided with the same dimensions as the existing pool, but with a reduced deep end, a flume, and a splash pool for young children.

The group also recommended that the rest of the Woodgreen Leisure Centre, which includes an indoor bowling green, should be refurbished to maximise all-year round local community benefit.

The minimum cost of the project was estimated at £1,276,000, with running costs put at £120,000 a year.

The working group suggested that the outdoor pool be open to the public for up to eight weeks a year.

It will be used by Cherwell Canoe Club for the remaining 44 weeks.

A report considered by the committee said the re-opened pool would reinforce the council's commitment to a safe, healthier Cherwell - and with Woodgreen being in a less-affluent part of Banbury, would contribute to community well-being.

The report said the risks associated with re-opening were that many of the costs could not be confirmed until the work was underway - with insurance, pool lining options, and pool plant alternatives given as examples.

CDC has already committed £750,000 to the refurbishment of the pool and Banbury Town Council has promised £50,000 towards running costs.

The final decision on Woodgreen will be made at a full meeting of the council, but pool supporters are confident that the project will get the green light.

Derrick Knight, co-ordinator for the Woodgreen Support Group, which has carried out a long campaign to save the pool, said: "It is pleasing that the long and sometimes acrimonious battle seems at an end.

"I am confident that the full council, when it meets, will vote for the recommendation.

"A lot of phrases have been used recently about facilities for deprived families in Ruscote and Neithrop, about obesity, and about community well-being.

"The only disappointment is the suggestion that the pool will open for only eight weeks."

• The outdoor pool has been closed since 2002 because of health and safety problems, and the future of the whole of the Woodgreen site has been in doubt since the centre was removed from a project to refurbish sports centres across Cherwell - including the building of a new Spiceball.