Time for a swim?

The St Neots Swimming Pool Trust has put the old swimming pool site land up for sale. Residents will have to wait for the Trust to inform the people of St Neots the outcome.

With the land up for sale, the Secretive Swimming Pool Trust has some way to go to build an open air swimming pool. The object of the charity is to:

There have been a few ideas of what to do with the money. There was an idea to have a splash area for kids. But this isn't a swimming pool. There is an idea to have a gym next to the swimming pool. But there is a £2.9 million gym at the Leisure Centre. So why have another Council gym?

That is the problem. The Outdoor Swimming Pool will not run without public subsidy. The SNSPT/Town Council are looking at ways to make this swimming pool run at a "profit". What is this idea that these type of facilities should actually run at a "profit"? Parks don't. Children's Play Areas don't. Why should a swimming pool?

Sometimes Public facilities require public subsidy. There is nothing wrong in that. That is a function of local government.

There is always the question of who administers the Swimming Pool Trust. In an answer to a question I was informed by Cllr Thorpe, The Town Mayor, that:

But in the last accounts filed SNSPT says:

So I'm informed by the Town Mayor that the Town Council does NOT administer the Swimming Pool Trust but I'm informed by the Swimming Pool Trust that the administration is run by the Town Council. DOH! No wonder the Town Council is in a mess. The same people run the Town Council as run the SNSPT.

Why is this charity so secret? It is not as though the charity doesn't have any money. The charity could have a basic website. In 2008 it had £53,435 in the bank. Therefore there is no reason to withhold information as SNSPT has enough money to set a basic website.

The problem with all this is the Town Council and SNSPT are getting themselves into a right mess over what to do with the proceeds of the sale of land. This could end up with the money just sitting there or wasted on something the Town doesn't need. Councils are good at doing this. What is needed is a proper viable plan to provide a basic outdoor swimming pool for the summer months with no frills that the community can use.