Green Field “Complete Success”
Local councillors, business representatives and local police have hailed the closure of the old Huntingdon Road pool “a complete success.”
Some years after the community resource was filled and fenced off a council report has shown a fall in costs, deaths, crimes and toes stubbed on dodgy paving slabs.
Councillor Steve Whyte-Van-Der Ryyver said ever since this decision was taken the costs of providing this community facility have fallen dramatically. “Just because the hole doesn’t contain water any more doesn’t stop us from technically listing this as a swimming pool site. We haven’t done anything else with it, so as far as we’re concerned it’s a valuable public resource. To run the site costs a bit of grass cutting and picking up the odd Stella can but it represents real value for money. What’s more we’ve had no reports of drownings at the site and Health & Safety issues have fallen to zero. That is significant progress. And it’s got a nice big green fence round it, an area that that I specialise in.”
Speaking from a security angle Inspector Perry Grafham commented “We see this as a real triumph for community policing. No one has been assaulted or robbed on the site and it is free from joy-riding. All in all an area of policing excellence.”
St Neots business’s have also benefited. Local retailer Brittany Barragates commented “no point having swimming pools locally when that would stop people using my shop. The green field is a great example of modern planning to increase footfall past my doors.”
It is thought that the success of the scheme will encourage the council to close off more areas of community leisure resources. Riverside Park, all those kiddies playgrounds and large stretches the Great Ouse have been earmarked for fencing off.
