Selby hope for swimming pool (From York Press)

Selby hope for swimming pool

8:55am Friday 4th May 2012 in Selby & Tadcaster By Dan Bean, dan.bean@thepress.co.uk

TALKS have been held with organisations around the region in a bid to ensure a Selby swimming pool is kept open.

Funding for the Sherburn High School swimming pool was withdrawn by North Yorkshire County Council in 2010, and more than 1,000 residents signed a petition to keep it open.

An action committee was set up last year to undertake a study on the local need for a pool, and look at the possibility of new changing rooms to enable the local community to use the pool during and outside school hours while safeguarding pupils, thereby boosting income.

The pool, which has been running at a loss of about £13,000 per year, remains open.

Discussions have been held between school governors, Selby District Council and other organisations, including Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust (WLCT), the organisation which runs leisure activities on behalf of the council, in an attempt to ensure it is kept open.

Chris Lewis, chair of governors at the school who sent a statement to parents regarding the future of the pool, said: “A number of interested members of the community and representatives of Sherburn High School Governing Body have met to develop plans to safeguard the future of the swimming pool on the school site.

To date, this Community Action Group has applied for funding for a feasibility study into the community use and further development of leisure facilities on the school site. The hope is that ultimately, capital can be found to build discrete changing rooms for the pool so that it can be more widely used by the community.”