Heated pools row descends into farce

A ROW over allowing the public to speak on proposals to close Shaw and Crompton pools ended in shambles - with the meeting suspended and the room cleared.

Around 50 people who had turned up to voice their opinions were silenced by chairman Councillor Tony Larkin, who told them it was against council rules to ask a question without prior written notice.

The action prompted anger from residents who said they were not aware they wouldn’t be allowed to speak, and asked what was the point of a public meeting where members of the public couldn’t speak.

Heated debate was halted when residents insisted on interrupting proceedings with comments and asking questions on a matter which was clearly close to their hearts.

And after several warnings, Councillor Larkin declared the meeting suspended, allowing 20 minutes for the room to be cleared before it reconvened for the rest of the business on the agenda.

Councillor Howard Sykes bought residents 10 minutes of question time when he proposed a “reasonable” suspension of standing orders to allow them to speak.

But after they complained that committee members had been allowed to use up some of their precious minutes and Councillor Larkin insisted it was time to move on to the next item, Councillor Sykes said: “It’s ridiculous that I can’t ask a question on something as important as this on my ward.

“We should leave the rest of the agenda and spend our time on this, and allow members of the public to ask questions. There is nothing more important to them tonight than this.”

Before the meeting was halted, Cath Inchbold, the council’s project manager for leisure review, spoke on the proposals which would see both Shaw and Crompton pools closed and a new six or eight-lane pool and 60-station gym built either at Royton and Crompton School, or at at the existing Crompton pool site, or in Royton, with sporting facilities open to the public at Oldham Academy North.

She said Royton and Crompton sports centres and pools “cost a bomb” to run, and each needed in excess of £400,000 for urgent repairs.

Crompton pool last year made a loss of £113,000, and Royton lost £48,000 while the 30,000 people who used them in the three months up to June was more than 7,000 fewer than in the same period the previous year.

She said they had the lowest number of visitors to any pool in the borough, apart from Glodwick, which is also under threat of closure.

Residents who were allowed to speak called for reassurance that the two pools would remain open until a new one was built, and said any new pool needed to be sited inbetween Royton and Shaw — to avoid extra `travelling.

The issue is under consultation until November 20, and people can write to Oldham Council with their comments before that date.

A decision on their fate will be made at the December Cabinet meeting, and OCCL will bid for the contract alongside a number of other bodies.