Council boss: pool issue "shut" (From Bucks Free Press)

Council boss: Holywell Mead, High Wycombe pool issue "shut"

6:47pm Monday 28th September 2009 in Search By Oliver Evans

A COUNCIL leader who led the closure of Holywell Mead outdoor swimming pool tonight said the matter is “shut” after being pressed by the opposition.

Conservative councillor Lesley Clarke stepped into a discussion between a finance boss and Liberal Democrat Trevor Snaith after Cllr Snaith raised the pool.

She said: “I think we have already made a decision on Holywell Mead pool.

“We took that decision in February this year. I know it’s hard for you to understand that but the decision has been to made to close it.

“We did not have the money to keep it open. I don’t know how many times I have to say that to yourself and the Bucks Free Press.”

She said: “I hope that that keeps the matter shut.”

At the time of closure the council said the pool was under-used.

Cllr Clarke spoke after Cllr Snaith, a strong opponent of the closure, asked about the council’s future plans for the site.

Cllr Roger Wilson, responsible for finance on the council, said there were not plans on the table to sell the facility.

And he warned the council would have to take some “very hard decisions” in future.

Cllr Clarke said the Government’s grant to the council could be cut by ten per cent and it would be “folly in the extreme” to overspend.

She said: “We are trying desperately to make sure everything works properly. We are trying to keep our frontline services going.”

The meeting was told the council’s investments fell in value from £62.6m at the start of the 2008/09 financial year to £58.8m at the end.

Investments include £2.5m locked in Icelandic bank Glitnir.

The council is also trying to sell nearby Bassetsbury Manor for more than £1m.

Last week TV presenter and Holmer Green resident Fern Britton called the pool closure "short sighted" (see link, below).