The refurbished Abbey Meadow outdoor pool opens on Saturday 16th June. Gates open to the public at 1pm! Just to re-iterate my thanks to everyone who signed the petition.
To re-cap: The VoWH district council ignored the consultation that overwhelmingly chose to refurbish the pool. They also rejected this petition, saying that although the pool would remain open, it didn't need to be refurbished. Appeals to the Town council were also rejected. However, when the side of the pool fell it, it was clear that the pool would either be closed permanently or would require major refurbishment.
I have no doubt that your support made it clear that Abingdon would not stand for the pool to be closed. Once the decision to refurbish the pool was made, it has been thoroughly 'done up' and will be a great asset to the town for years to come.
Thank you again for your fantastic support and for standing up for Abingdon!
I hope that you all enjoy the pool over the summer.
Naomi x
To: Vale of White Horse District Council
Abbey Meadow Outdoor Pool: Listen to Abingdon!
UPDATE 14/07/16 - Great news! You may have seen the article in the Oxford Time/ Abingdon Herald this week that the Abbey meadows Outdoor Pool will be replaced. Hurray!
http://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/news/14612282.Abbey_Meadows_pool_in_Abingdon_to_be_completely_replaced/
Last year, 81% or people voted for Option A in the Abbey Meadows consultation '‘Scenario A would see the outdoor pool refurbished to ensure that it can continue to remain in operation over the summer for years to come. We expect this work to be expensive, so this limits other improvements that can be made to the rest of Abbey Meadow’ However, not a single penny of the capital budget is being spent on the pool; all is going on 'other improvements'. We request the VoWHDC to reconsider this decision and to respect the outcome of the Abbey Meadows consultation by allocating at least half of the total budget to refurbishing the outdoor pool.
Why is this important?
Democracy and the future of the outdoor pool!
Future of the pool! The pool is outdated and needs investment. The lining is cutting children's feet and may fail at any time, resulting in a hefty bill or the closure of the pool.
Democracy! We voted for the pool to be refurbished and it is not being refurbished. The decision has been made by a councillor from Wantage, so we can't even vote her out! Three explanations have been given by the Vale. 1) It is too expensive: but the Vale have not got any estimates from pool contractors, or assessed what could be done with the 307,500 which would be half of the available capital budget. 2) Non-voters have to be considered: the Vale have also said that although 81% of people who voted chose Option A, this was only 3206 people in Abingdon (about 10%), and so the vote can be ignored. This is not democratic... and very concerning. Only the views of those that participate in democracy can contribute to democratic process. In fact, this had the highest participation of any consultation ever held in Abingdon, reflecting the importance of this issue. If everyone in Abingdon had voted, perhaps the majority would have been even higher! We just left the EU on a 4% difference with 28% non-participation, but apparently democracy only applies to the 'big' decisions 3) That we 'misunderstood' the consultation and that refurbishment meant 'repair' and not capital investment: I made a formal complaint to the Vale on this matter, the response to the complaint concluded that we did not in fact misunderstand anything and that 'the current planned works are not consistent with the description of scenario A in the consultation... anyone 'voting' for scenario A and contributing to the 81% overwhelming preference for scenario A would be disappointed with the council's planned works'
Future of the pool! The pool is outdated and needs investment. The lining is cutting children's feet and may fail at any time, resulting in a hefty bill or the closure of the pool.
Democracy! We voted for the pool to be refurbished and it is not being refurbished. The decision has been made by a councillor from Wantage, so we can't even vote her out! Three explanations have been given by the Vale. 1) It is too expensive: but the Vale have not got any estimates from pool contractors, or assessed what could be done with the 307,500 which would be half of the available capital budget. 2) Non-voters have to be considered: the Vale have also said that although 81% of people who voted chose Option A, this was only 3206 people in Abingdon (about 10%), and so the vote can be ignored. This is not democratic... and very concerning. Only the views of those that participate in democracy can contribute to democratic process. In fact, this had the highest participation of any consultation ever held in Abingdon, reflecting the importance of this issue. If everyone in Abingdon had voted, perhaps the majority would have been even higher! We just left the EU on a 4% difference with 28% non-participation, but apparently democracy only applies to the 'big' decisions 3) That we 'misunderstood' the consultation and that refurbishment meant 'repair' and not capital investment: I made a formal complaint to the Vale on this matter, the response to the complaint concluded that we did not in fact misunderstand anything and that 'the current planned works are not consistent with the description of scenario A in the consultation... anyone 'voting' for scenario A and contributing to the 81% overwhelming preference for scenario A would be disappointed with the council's planned works'
