Earlier in the year many of my constituents contacted me about the swimming pool at Barry Road Primary School because they were concerned that the pool would close down. Previous runners of the Pool (Barry Primary School) decided that the running of the Pool should be transferred to Northamptonshire County Council (NCC). At the time there were concerns that NCC could not afford to run the Pool themselves and therefore it could close down altogether.
I was concerned about this –I know a number of schools and residents use this Pool - and therefore wrote personally to NCC to seek an update on the progress of the transfer and see what could be done to ensure the Pool remains open. At the time, NCC responded saying that they were not in a position to step in and run the facility and that they were seeking other options such as transferring the running of the Pool to a community group or another organisation. It has however now been announced that the Northamptonshire based swimming organisation Aqualight will run the pool on the grounds of Barry Primary School in a new 10-year contract!
The Pool dates back to 1903 and has seen many Northampton residents learn to swim and I am pleased that the Pool has been saved.