Members of the Waterside Action Group would like send out this thank you to all those who supported the campaign. Ed
Waterside Action Group (WAG) would like to thank all of the many thousands who signed the petition to try and persuade the Isle of Wight Council to change policy and keep Waterside Pool open.
The list goes on
Thanks are also due to local businesses for holding petition forms in their shops, displaying posters in shop windows
We would like to thank local surgeries which, keen to promote the health benefits of swimming, eagerly promoted the signing of our petition and supplied individual letters of support. Thanks also to the IOWCOC and RCC.
Waterside Action Group would also like to thank Ryde Town Councillors for their support to the group, for the lobbying of Isle of Wight Council Cabinet Members and for setting aside some funds from Ryde Town Council budget.
Not forgetting the staff
Last but by no means least our group would like to thank Waterside Pool staff for their unstinting help to our group as we prepared a written submission to take over the pool.
Preferred bidder
Last month Waterside Action Group became the ‘preferred bidder’ for Waterside Pool and negotiations with IOW Council are continuing. These negotiations are complex and are unlikely to have been concluded by the planned closure date of 31st March. However both sides are hopeful that the pool can remain open in some possibly limited form while discussions continue
Last week’s County Council Budget proposed to allocate £100,000 toward the net running costs of the pool for 2011/12. This is some 40% of the current running costs. As a group however, we remain optimistic that at some future date we can operate this local amenity as either a Community Trust or a Not-for-Profit company. We hope that date is soon.
Ian Jenkins, Lesley Ball and Keith Gentleman
