We voted to keep our pool where it is

I do seem to remember at least 70 per cent of the growing population of Shrewsbury wanted to keep the pool where it was and I believe most also wanted it to be refurbished.

I believe at least 70 per cent of swimmers go into town afterwards and support the town’s business community by spending their money in the shops and cafes.

It is a fact our population is becoming more elderly and more of us need to keep active and working, rather than sitting at home watching daytime television.

Swimming definitely keeps us fit and active.

In the UK and Europe there is an ongoing rise in the number of older workers.

For example, in the UK the number of elderly workers have risen from 425,000 in 1994 to 1.2 million in 2015. In the UK the life expectancy for males is now 78.85 and for females 82.72.

We are also facing a growing obesity problem in our younger generation and as a result, we are rapidly catching up with America, where the costs of obesity to employers are now greater than the direct costs of medical care of their workers.

Currently, 502 million people worldwide are obese; with a BMI over 30, and this problem is more prevalent in high income countries.

There is a good case, as you know, for us to keep fighting for the pool to remain where it is. Our wise Victorian forebears built the Jubilee Baths on grounds of health and safety in 1894 and they lasted for 85 years until the Quarry Pool was added.

John D Brownlie, Shrewsbury