Church Stretton swimming pool petition to be discussed by Shropshire Council
A petition calling for a Church Stretton's swimming pool to remain open to the public will be considered by Shropshire Council in the next few days.
The petition, which is fighting to keep the swimming pool at Teme Church Stretton leisure centre open to all, passed the key 1,000 signature mark in December, the amount needed to trigger a Shropshire Council debate on the fate of the pool.
Now at about 1,150 signatures both online and on paper, campaigners have now submitted the petition, which was raised by Stretton Pool Action group, to multiple authorities. It will be discussed at the next meeting of Shropshire council on Wednesday.
Campaigner Denise Cottom said: "The online petition, which reached its initial target in December has now been sent to Philip Dunne, MP for Ludlow and, together with the 125 paper signatures we gathered at the awareness raising event in September, to Peter Davis, Shropshire Council's leisure services manager, and Shropshire Councillor Lee Chapman, for consideration at Shropshire Council's cabinet meeting about the revised leisure strategy for Shropshire on March 1. We are planning to send one or two people to the full council meeting on February 23 to present the petition."
"Thanks to everyone who gave their signatures to help us get so far. The petition remains open with a new target of 2,000 – so keep on spreading the word," she said.
Under the authority's current sports and leisure facilities strategy the centre is expected to close, unless an outside body takes it on. Campaigners said the ageing leisure centre needed investment, including work on the dehumidifier, the boiler and roof. But they added it remains an important asset for the town, used by primary and secondary schools and the general public.
Concerns raised on the petition include the loss of "low impact" exercise for the elderly. in a town with an unusually high proportion of retired people,
Further worries include the distance adults and children alike would have to travel to swim, which might have a negative effect on public health in the town.
