A. Open Abbey Meadow Outdoor Pool NOW!
On 9 June 2021, the council received a petition, with in excess of 1,500 signatures, calling for the opening of the Abbey Meadows outdoor pool in Abingdon.
The council’s Petition Scheme provides for petitions containing more than 500 signatures to be referred to Council for debate. The petition organiser will be given three minutes to present the petition and the petition will then be discussed by councillors. Council will decide how to respond to the petition at this meeting.
In response to the petition, Council may decide
· not to take the action requested for reasons put forward in the debate;
· to refer the matter to Cabinet and decide whether to make recommendations to inform that decision.
Council is advised that the outdoor pool in Abingdon is due to re-open on Monday 12 July 2021.
B. To receive any petitions from the public.
Minutes:
In accordance with the council’s petition scheme, which provides for a Council debate if a petition is signed by in excess of 500 people, Council considered a petition, which had received in excess of 1,500 signatures, calling on Vale of White Horse District Council to open the Outdoor Pool at Abbey Meadows, Abingdon and extend the opening hours. The organiser of the petition, Naomi Richardson, was unable to attend the meeting but her statement, set out below, was circulated to all councillors prior to the meeting:
“This petition was necessary because once again Abingdon came last. And don’t give me the covid excuse, because…
When other outdoor pools were opening early all over the country so that people could get out and exercise in safety, so that they could feel better and keep themselves physically and mentally healthy, Abingdon Outdoor Pool stayed shut.
When shops were opening and could have done with people coming into the town centre again to access the pool and the splashers who would have then bought sandwiches, takeaways and maybe the odd birthday present, these facilities stayed shut – the splashers are still shut.
When residents asked councillors why this was happening, they all got the same bland and uninformative standard response which basically said ‘it’s covid’s fault, stop bothering us and wait’. It is disrespectful to your voters and taxpayers to be so dismissive when they raise concerns about the provision of their services – to fob them off with a pre-prepared statement of excuses rather than answering their questions responsibly and fully and engaging.
And months did go by with the same response – no timetable, no idea of what the hold-up was about just the same old negative ‘it costs money’. Well it costs money to keep it shut as well. Wallingford pool, also operated by GLL was open and we still have had no answer why that was prioritised over Abingdon. That costs money too you know but didn’t require a petition to get it open, and neither did Hinksey pool which has already been open for months.
It seems clear that without this petition and publicity that it generated this situation would have continued for the whole summer and the pool would have remained shut for 2021.
So, are we not worth it in Abingdon, because we made it very clear that this is a unique and important part of our community and we think it’s good value for what it provides; healthy exercise, a social hub, a place for all ages and social groups to enjoy, an asset to the local economy bringing people into the town centre and somewhere that people can get to without driving, which is pretty rare. And it has the best location of any Lido; people spend a whole day in the town when they come to the pool.
And do you know of any other council anywhere that is so negative about their Lido – NO, most are proud that they have these facilities, they support them and promote them. They don’t ‘talk them down’ at every opportunity.
There is a contract, there is a budget, there is a timetable for opening. Yet, every year the council act like it is a total surprise that the pool needs to be open and the people of Abingdon have to beg to get it going. And please stop using covid as an excuse when other councils and even GLL managed to open Lidos perfectly well elsewhere.
The delays, secrecy and poor communication have bred numerous conspiracy theories as to why to pool wasn’t opened. Where did the money allocated for it go? Are GLL paid to keep it shut? Someone wants to close the pool and grab the land for a restaurant. Abingdon is only good for building houses, not providing services. It’s just going to be annexed by Oxford City anyway and that’s why the Vale don’t want to spend anything here. That’s what you get with the lack of transparency.
Now that the pool is open at last, we need to think about how to move forward.
The council need to make a commitment to promote the pool and splashers and actively support these fantastic facilities – by doing this you are supporting all of Abingdon.
There aren’t even any brown signs to the pool. No promotions or offers, no opening events, no special events such as fun sessions or triathlon training, no intensive swimming courses, no engagement with local swimming clubs or other clubs and organisations, such as Brownies, schools, etc., no corporate promotions, no pool exercise classes, no early risers memberships. No hook ups with local businesses offering vouchers with swims or advertising space. The season needs to be longer – this should not just be a ‘school holiday’ pool. And don’t get me going on the kiosk – what a gold mine if it were run properly.
These are all ideas that people in Abingdon have had – it does not make GLL look like a very impressive operator does it? By the way, the Better app is atrocious as well - has anyone at the Vale actually tried to use it? We get the impression that the Vale think, well that’s outsourced so nothing to do with us now even if it stays shut, and GLL take their money and open the doors if they really have to and that is about it, so that’s that.
We need to get the CEO of GLL up to Abingdon to look at the facility and learn about the town and to discuss how they are going to support the pool and push it forward. We need the full support of the Vale to promote and support these facilities. We need a comprehensive plan from the Vale and operators to manage the pool every year, and push it forward every year, seamlessly without the need for petitions, and statements like this”.
In responding to the petition Councillor Helen Pighills, Cabinet member for healthy communities and Councillor Smith, Leader of the council, thanked Naomi Richardson, and those who had signed the petition, for the petition.
Councillor Pighills responded to the petition. She noted that the petition demonstrated how important the outdoor pool at Abbey Meadow is to the local community and was reassured that the efforts the council had made to get the pool open reflected what the community wanted. By the time the petition was started in June, the council had already agreed a financial package to support GLL to ensure the pool was able to open in good time for the summer holidays and negotiations and work were underway, behind the scenes, to reopen for this season. The opening hours have been extended compared to previous seasons and will be extended further at the weekends if the weather forecast is good. The opening hours, types of sessions, and demand are already being monitored carefully and can be changed as the season progresses and as we move from a term time timetable to a school holiday one. ?The council has been working with GLL, the local media and the 'Lido Ladies' over the past few weeks to promote the pool and encourage people to come and use the facility and will continue to consider other ways to promote the facility and offer new activities. The council is always open to new ideas to ensure the viability of the pool especially as the council develops its Active Communities Strategy.
Councillor Smith, Leader of the council, noted thatthe actions the petition being presented to Council called for, were already happening. Therefore, referring it to Cabinet to discuss further did not seem a logical way forward. She advised that she had asked Councillor Pighills to work with officers to monitor demand and how the opening hours are going and was encouraged to bring any issues to her and Cabinet for discussion if they emerge.
She therefore proposed that Council:
· acknowledge the petition and the popularity of the pool at Abbey Meadow;
· note that the action requested has already been taken;
· agree that there is no need for this petition to be referred to cabinet at this time;
· note that the Leader has asked the Cabinet member for Healthy Communities to keep the opening times under review and to bring a report back to the Cabinet if at any stage that is required.
RESOLVED: to
1. acknowledge the petition and the popularity of the pool at Abbey Meadow
2. note that the action requested has already been taken
3. agree that there is no need for this petition to be referred to Cabinet at this time
4. note that the Leader has asked the Cabinet member for Healthy Communities to keep the opening times under review and to bring a report back to the Cabinet if at any stage that is required.