Headline

WOTTON Pool has come to the end of its fourth summer under community management and there will be a meeting held on October 28 at Wotton Civic Centre at 7.30pm to which the public are invited.

In the first year of operation we improved the sanitary facilities, repainted the pool tank, refurbished the pool water plant, increased the opening hours and reduced the entry fees (and the fees have been held at that level for all of the four years we have been running it). In the second year we further improved the pool tank, re-laid the internal concrete surround with improved drainage, installed underwater lighting and reinstated the access ramp for wheeled transport (mostly bikes and baby buggies). In the third year we relaid the external concrete to improve the underfoot conditions and installed improved surface water drainage and 5 (kindly-donated) warm water solar panels to supplement the existing off-peak electrical heating. Much of the money for these improvements had been in the reserves of Wotton Swimming Club who, together with other local groups, had raised money and campaigned for the pool while it was under Stroud District Council operational control. Also, many generous and skilled volunteers provided a lot of time and effort to support these improvements. The capital reserves have now been spent so this year improvements were limited to rebuilding the website, refurbishing the sand filter and redecorating the external walls of the changing rooms and the site fence - all using volunteer labour.

This year the attendance at public sessions was slightly lower than last year, but we greatly increased the provision of public swimming lessons. We continued with school lesson use and trained 12 lifeguards to NPLQ standard. We run family sessions, parent and toddler sessions, adult general swim sessions, ladies therapeutic sessions, lane swimming and open public sessions. The pool is also open for private hire. We employ three part-time managers and have about 25 lifeguards who are trained and tested and about 25 volunteer gate supervisors who are also trained and tested. The charity trustees are all volunteers.

Following overwhelming support in a town poll in October 2010, Wotton townsfolk pay £28,000 per year (about 25p/week for the typical household) towards the operation of the pool through their council tax. The initial 3-year service level agreement with the town council was renewed earlier this year at this level (no increase for inflation which stood at 10% over the three years) for three more years. With this forward stability we are considering a plan to improve the accommodation that will help the movement of people around the site and give better amenities to parents and families. This would be funded by grants and fund raising, the £28,000 per year is defined for running and maintenance costs.

As chairman of the charity I would like to thank the townsfolk for their support and invite them to the public meeting so that they can have their say about how we go forward with the pool next season.

Alan George

Chairman

Wotton under Edge Swimming Pool Ltd