Decision on Exeter swimming pool due this week

Protests gather pace

Protests against the closure of an Exeter swimming pool are gathering pace.

Around 50 campaigners met at the Isca Centre to make their point, as Exeter City Council held the last of its public consultations on its future. 

The Labour-led council announced in February that it wanted to close the pool to save money, blaming low usage and revenue.

However, the Save Northbrook Pool campaign says the pool is open for public swimming for only one-third of the time of other pools in Exeter, yet it has required considerably less subsidy from the council than both of these. The council’s gyms also received more money than Northbrook.

A handwritten petition has more than 1,400 signatures and the online petition at change.org now has 851.

Spokesperson Colleen Natola said: “‘We have the support of many users, their families, health professionals, schools and others who are amazed at the stupidity of this decision.

“Many of the regulars are elderly, trying to do their bit to keep well and reduce their need for council-funded social care in the future.”

The campaigners say the pool serves people from all over Exeter, just as it did when Riverside was damaged by fire in 2017 and remained closed for over four years. 

At a recent meeting of the city council, leader Phil Bialyk (Lab, Exwick) said it  had to make tough decisions to deal with a £3.5 million budget shortfall, and the future of Northbrook Pool could be one of them.

He said that despite improvements to the pool there had been low usage and little improvement in revenue.

However, the group disputes the level of savings predicted by closure, and fears it could be left to fall into disrepair.

“The pool was broken into last week and there is already some fly-tipping,” said Sarah Hornsby, another campaigner. “It could remain an eyesore for years, just like the Clifton Hill site.”

The council’s online consultation on the future of Northbrook Pool ends on Tuesday 22 April.