I SEE that the idea of new sports facilities and the closure of Derwent Pool is once again being raised. I am in full agreement with improving sports provision in central Ryedale, but I would like to raise the following points:

1. The opening hours for the swimming pool - excellent now - should remain the same. However, if the pool is to be part of the school complex, would this continue to be the case if the school had increased use?

2. Are the running costs of a new pool necessarily going to be less than those of the Derwent Pool? Will the design be as good or will corners be cut to save costs? The changing and showering facilities at Huntington Pool are very unpleasant due, no doubt, to economies in the design.

3. Derwent Pool should not be closed before the new pool is ready for use.

4. The councillors involved should visit Derwent Pool to talk to the people who use it and the staff to discover what is needed. The evidence suggests that councillors very rarely visit the pool.

5. The amount that has been spent over and over again in the last few years could have been more usefully spent on the actual facilities. It seems that consultants have been called in simply to avoid having to make decisions.

Sport is important, as stated in the article by David Jeffels, both socially and for health and for all sections of the community. The new facilities should therefore be for the young, for adults and for the school; but at reasonable hours for all and not just at times which are not convenient for the school.

Updated: 09:56 Thursday, September 13, 2001