Issue - meetings

(A)      To agree a 6-month postponement in bringing an options report to Executive on the future of the pool.

The Executive Member for Wellbeing presented a report that provided an update on Ward Freman Pool following its closure in December 2023 for health and safety reasons.

Councillor Hopewell said that the Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) had found out that the DfE funding was ending at the end of the next academic year, meaning that HCC who owned the building were not in a position to offer any ongoing support.

Councillor Hopewell said that Hertfordshire County Council had provisionally agreed in principle that a community group could take on the facility pending a viable business plan. She said that a group had formed, and an application had been submitted to the Charity Commission on the 15March 2024. The group was on track to submit a business plan for Thursday.

Councillor Hopewell said that the main grant pot for the estimated £700k required to fix the pool was the community ownership fund. She said that there would be quarterly funds until March 2025 and due to the delays, this recommended a 6-month delay so that all the information could be collated. She said that the final deadline had been brought forward to the end of May.

Councillor Hopewell proposed that the recommendation in the report be supported. Councillor Hoskin seconded the proposal.

Councillor Glover-Ward asked how long the condition survey would take and was there a way of getting an assurance that this could be in place before May. Councillor Hopewell said that she could not give that assurance, but it would be great to have a date in diary in the next couple of weeks to have the report by May.

Councillor Bull said that he admired the group for the hard work that they had done. The motion to support the recommendations having been proposed and seconded was put to the meeting and upon a vote being taken, was declared CARRIED.

RESOLVED – that a 6-month postponement in bringing an options report to Executive on the future of the pool, be agreed.