Stalemate over the future of Wem pool
Councillors in a Shropshire town have failed to decide which company should run its swimming pool and abandoned a specially called meeting after two-and-a-half hours of discussion.
The behind-closed-doors meeting of Wem Town Council at Wem Methodist Church last night heard presentations from two organisations in the running to take on the town's closure-threatened pool from January.
But councillors said the decision was 'too big' to make without more consideration.
The Friends of Wem Swimming Centre and representatives from the Severn Centre in Highley, near Bridgnorth, both presented a business plan for the Butler Sports Centre pool.
It comes after current operators Teme Leisure said it had decided to pull out of the running of the pool because of 'economic reasons'.
Councillor Peter Broomhall, town mayor, said he was positive about the future of the pool but there were a number of concerns.
He said: "It is a big decision to make. The meeting has been positive and we have had very good presentations. They have gone through everything with us and we didn't want to make a rushed decision.
"It is going to cost a lot more money to run if either of these two groups end up running the pool. It is going to go on the council tax and I don't think people will be happy with that."
Councillor Broomhall said he had also hoped to consult the public on the decision but he did not think there would be enough time as a new operator needed to be in place for January 1.
The meeting was adjourned at 10pm. A second meeting to discuss the pool will be held at 6pm next Thursday at a location to be decided. It is the second time the future of the pool has been in doubt in more than two years after Wem Swimming Centre Ltd was declared insolvent in 2010.
