THE POPULATION of Westbury has spoken up in defence of Westbury’s swimming pool.
In the last edition of the White Horse News we reported how Wiltshire Council was conducting an audit of all leisure facilities in the county, and had identified an “over-provision” of swimming pools, raising the possibility that Westbury’s pool, the oldest working pool in the country, could be closed.
Wiltshire Council has stressed that no decision has been made on the future of the pool, and that no decision will be made without an extensive consultation.
The White Horse News has received numerous letters calling for Wiltshire Council to keep the pool running.
Wiltshire and Westbury Town Councillor Mike Cuthbert-Murray is also backing the campaign, and has applied to have the building, which dates from 1887, listed with English Heritage.
Cllr Cuthbert-Murray said, “I’m applying to have the pool listed both inside and outside. I want to preserve the pool for the town. The application will be going in this week.
“I’ve had a lot of people coming to me about this. It’s an important building for its history and it’s well used as well. The last thing I want is for Westbury to be that town that loses something else.”
Westbury’s MP, Dr Andrew Murrison, has also called for the pool to be saved, and on Thursday 11th February visited to take a swim. Dr Murrison said, “There are two main reasons that I want to see the pool saved. Firstly because it is an important leisure resource when we are trying to encourage people to get fit. It’s perverse to close such a facility when there’s a national drive for fitness. I would like to see it saved by making the argument that it’s a well used community facility.
“Secondly it’s a piece of living heritage and should be maintained for that reason alone.
“I think that if enough of the public support the pool then I am confident it will be saved.”
As Dr Murrison visited the pool he was met by a group of swimmers who had just been to one of the several remedial sessions on offer throughout the week.
One swimmer, Freda Cook said, “I come to the remedial sessions three times a week and have done for 13 years. Since I started I haven’t had to go to the osteopath and I did before. The remedial sessions are such an important part of life for many of us, they are also a social occasion as well.”
Westbury Area Board passed a motion at their meeting on Thursday 11th February announcing their full support for Westbury Swimming Pool, and have asked for a detailed report into the current usage figures of the pool to be presented at the next meeting in April.
Neil Tribeck, Westbury Amateur Swimming Club head coach said, “It’s nice everyone seems to be singing from the same hymm sheet about the swimming pool, that’s good.
“The swimming club has held a meeting and the feeling from the general membership is that they are horrified at the prospect [of closure]. There is a groundswell of opinion that says ‘fight it’.
“Westbury pool is an easy target because it is an old small pool but the irony is that the more modern pools need to be rebuilt after 15 years or so because the Victorian quality isn’t there.
“Westbury pool has been around more than 100 years and it’s doing quite well thanks very much!”
