Villagers fight to save pool (From South Wales Guardian)

Villagers fight to save pool

3:02pm Wednesday 3rd May 2006

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EVERY single one of Hendy's residents is expected to sign a petition urging the county council to help save part of the village's history.

The village outdoor pool or lido, which was dug in the 1920s by jobless miners paid five Woodbines or a bar of Cadbury's chocolate each day, was forced to close because of weather damage in 2002 and has not been opened since.

The local authority has estimated repairs at £250,000, but the pool's management committee claims the work would cost half that figure.

"We are fighting Carmarthenshire Council for funds to restore the pool to working order," said committee member and former chairman Derrick Lyones, "but our itemised estimate is half the council's."

The committee is now urging the village's 2,500 residents to show their support - not only for a valued local amenity but also part of the heritage of Hendy.

"The pool is part of our history," said Mr Lyones. "It was dug with picks and shovels so local people could learn to swim when rising numbers were drowning in rivers.

"Those people fought so hard to get it built and must now be turning in their graves."

The pool faced closure in 2000 when the authority said its annual running costs of £30,000 made it too expensive to retain, but villagers formed the management committee and within a year the pool was paying for itself.

In the last 12 weeks it was open, more than 5,000 paid to take a dip in the pool.

A council spokesman said the authority had commissioned a report into the repair of the pool and was looking to work with the committee with a view to find external funding, although Hendy would not receive any special treatment.

Following the recent budget announcement of money to support local sports and activity centres, the committee is looking to central government for help.

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