BY Town Crier

St Neots is to get a new outdoor swimming pool according to Liberal Democrat acting leader of the town council Derek Giles.

Cllr Giles, who is also a member of the Swimming Pool Trust, says that a favourable deal has been struck to sell the old site on Huntingdon Street and that a replacement lido will be built on town council-owned land at Riversmead, near to St Neots Rugby Club.

A covenant covering the pool states that any proceeds from a sale must be used to fund another leisure facility in the town.

The old pool was closed in September 2003 as it had fallen into a state of disrepair, but now the site looks likely to be taken over by a new campus of Huntingdon Regional College.

The college recently announced £50 million plans to build new campuses in Huntingdon and StNeots and have submitted planning applications.

Cllr Giles was delighted that a deal was close to being agreed.

He said: "It's very good news for the town. It's been a few years coming and we did look at selling half the land and putting a smaller pool on the same site, but now we have got a much, much better deal that should ensure we have an outdoor swimming facility in St Neots for many years to come."

Cllr Giles believes the new pool could be open by summer 2009.

When the old pool was open it required a subsidy of approximately £20,000 per year, but Cllr Giles hoped that nothing like that amount would be necessary with the new pool.

He suggested a shallower pool would be cheaper to treat and to clean and would also make heating it more feasible, which would make it more attractive to the paying public. The previous pool was ten feet deep to accommodate a diving board.

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