BY Weston & Somerset Mercury,

THE rise and rise of Tom Daley continues to astound. The 13-year-old schoolboy from Plymouth has taken headlines world-wide for his diving exploits.

Last year he became the BBC's Young Sports Personality of the Year. Now he is set to be Britain's youngest-ever Olympic Games competitor next August in Beijing.

He has been able to reach these heights because Plymouth has one of the few Olympic standard diving pools in the country. There was a time when Weston had a 10 meter board. North Somerset Council should throw out the Henry Boot scheme for the Tropicana and restore the diving board, particularly if Weston becomes the site of a water sports campus at UWE.

The interests of Weston will not be served as long as we have the dead weight of the north of the district dragging us down. Bring on a unified Winterstoke Council for the south of the district centred on Weston with just one mayor.

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