Drowning in the swimming pool of despair

A source informed me of the following:

The Swimming Pool Trust has abandoned plans to sell the swimming pool site and now intends to rebuild the open air swimming pool on the original site.

If my source is correct, this is a U-turn of major proportions. The Conservatives have therefore dumped McCarthy and Stone retirement flats. Probably the only way out of the situation the Conservatives find themselves in. And that is why I asked for a briefing to the next Neighbourhood Forum.

To recap, the Town Council/Swimming Pool Trust are in a legal quagmire/catch 22. They cannot sell the land without HDC, run by the Conservatives, taking half the proceeds. The Charity Commission will not let the land be sold unless the Swimming Pool Trust gets all the proceeds.

At the last elections the Conservatives promised ALL the proceeds will be used for a new outdoor swimming pool. This is a way round that promise.

When my source was asked: "where the money to rebuild the swimming pool was going to come from?" I was informed there is money in a trust. I had to scratch my head here. The swimming pool trust has about £70,000 in cash. So there is no money to rebuild a swimming pool.

The big question has to be is where the Town Council/Swimming Pool Trust is going to get the money to pay for a new swimming pool. Will they go for lottery funding or look to a loan to pay for a swimming pool? Is there money squirrelled away from Section 106 agreements? Or has Rowley come forward with another million to pay for this facility? I await with baited breath for the answer!

The basic problem remains the same. The old pool was closed because of losing money and not enough to repair the pool. Any new pool will require public money to run it and public money to refurbish it in the future.