I was at the meeting at the Minster School [discussing proposals for a new pool] and have never heard so much pious claptrap from the representatives of Southwell Town Council as that which was spoken at that meeting.
Newark and Sherwood District Council has asserted the cost of the repair to the pool to be £650k, without providing any evidence or breakdown of the cost.
The word ‘repair’ is a misnomer. There is nothing wrong with the actual pool basin (or shell).
It transpires that what is actually required is the need to replace 50 metres of pipe which is supposedly causing 9,000 litres of water to leak (although it is claimed that this amount of water is not being entirely lost)
The actual cost to replace the 50 metres of pipe has been put at £250k.
In stark contrast, the district council is proposing to build a new pool at an estimated cost of £5.5m. It is not known how this figure has been determined, or where the new pool would be sited and the timeframe to complete.
Meanwhile, the existing pool has been closed since October.
Given the growing prevalence of mental health problems in children and young adults, there is inordinate pressure placed on an already stretched health service, from GP surgeries to hospital A&E departments.
And at what cost to the public finances?
The lack of a swimming pool can only exacerbate this.
And at a time when local authorities all over the country are going bankrupt due to incompetence and financial mismanagement, it surely beggars belief that our elected officials continue to turn a blind eye to reality, preferring to engage in a standoff and blame game. Where is the duty of care?
This is tantamount to Nero fiddling while Rome burns.
Enough is enough. Surely it is high time that common sense prevails and that the respective parties dispense with the rhetoric, get off their backsides and start work immediately on replacing the 50 metres of defective pipe. — F. X. O’MALLEY, Farnsfield.
