5:55pm Thursday 20th August 2009
By ivor
On Tuesday I was dismayed to learn of the rejection of the plan put forward by campaigners to save the wonderful Holywell Mead swimming pool.
The rejection was a snub for the campaigners and a blow for the townspeople.
After recovering from the initial shock I was left feeling angry and bitter.
Do you know I think the plight of the Holywell Mead pool has come to symbolise everything that is wrong with Wycombe.
It was closed because there was not enough money in the budget yet money can be found to install unsightly recycling bins in the High Street. The money spent on the unnecessary bins could have helped pay to keep the pool open.
Is Wycombe the town where bins are more important than people?
Similar pools around the country have been turned into profitable ventures so surely our pool could also be turned into a financially sound business? In which case the profits could be funding other projects and decreasing the burden on the local tax payer. Every tax payer in the town is the loser while it stands empty.
While the rescue plans are stalled the pool is slowly falling into a state of disrepair.
Eventually the site will deteriorate so much that demolition will become the only option and it will be lost forever with the actions of vandals exacerbating the slide into depravation.
What is going to happen to the pool? Perhaps a block of flats may appear on the site or maybe some plush houses.
Somehow I feel the plans for the site are already sealed and we are just going through a process to close it according to the rule book.
The pool is one of many buildings standing empty in Wycombe.
The old library is slowly decaying, our town hall is so under used that weeds grow in the doorway and empty retail units stand like tombstones to the memory of shopping in our town centre.
Wycombe is a town with so much opportunity but I fear the management is so poor that buildings are just left to rot and profitable pools are left standing empty.
Perhaps we need a more commercial approach to the running of our town?
Why not sweep out the public servants who are guaranteed their incomes from the tax payer and bring in some business minded managers who have to succeed to keep their jobs.
One thing is for sure, it’s a sorry state of affairs when a town like ours is slowly shutting down building by building.
What do you think?
© Copyright 2001-2012 Newsquest Media Group
http://www.bucksfreepress.co.uk