The future of sporting facilities in Westbury considered

AN assurance of the quality of services in a community campus for Westbury is needed, say local sportspeople, as they consider the campus consultation. 

The campus consultation is currently asking people to choose between 3 options: council facilities across three sites (the existing pool, library, and Leighton Recreation Centre); facilities across two sites (the Library and Leighton Recreation Centre); or a new build single site.

The quality of facilities in the campus are the most important issue at stake, says Neil Hawker, chairman of Westbury and District Cricket Club. He said, “I would be pleased to see the campus at Leighton, however, I cannot see how this would function without purchasing additional land, and the road infrastructure to the site at Leighton would not take the extra traffic.

“I have no issues in the cricket field being moved to a new purpose ‘campus’, as long as the facilties are as good, if not better than we have now, and importantly in place before any other facility is closed.”

Quality of facilities is also important to Westbury Amateur Swimming Club, but while a bigger, modern pool might help the club’s expansion, club secretary Neil Tribick doesn’t believe a new pool would necessarily be any better than the sturdy Victorian pool.

He explains, “The current pool has stood the test of time, unlike many new build pools of the 70s and 80s which have had to have major remedial works in their early years. So we would only consider any alternative to the present pool if the proposed building was of sufficient quality and specification to be guaranteed at least 40 or 50 years.

“A new bigger 25-metre, better equipped pool (changing areas, spectator seating, cafeteria etc) would be good for the club’s expansion, but not, for instance, if it is wrongly located, charges are too high, build quality not good enough, etc. The old pool has restrictions because of its size, but has served well for over 100 years. Until a properly scoped alternative is put before us, the club can’t really comment for or against.”

The consultation closes in November.