Sawbridgeworth Town Council urges county and district counterparts to subsidise increased cost of swimming lessons for students after Leventhorpe pool closure

Town councillors have urged council chiefs to subsidise parents and schools to make up for extra travel costs incurred following the closure of Leventhorpe pool.

The pool and gym at Leventhorpe School in Cambridge Road, Sawbridgeworth, was closed just before Christmas last year after the withdrawal of Government funding meant it was no longer viable.

Petitions and campaigns by local councillors and residents failed to save the much-loved facility, leaving junior schools in the town with the task of finding alternative venues for their students’ swimming lessons.

Sawbridgeworth Town Council sent a letter to East Herts Council and Hertfordshire County Council’s director of education highlighting the impact the closure has had on the community, particularly parents and school children who now have to travel out of town to access swimming.

The key concerns of the town council included increased travel costs leading to a financial hit for schools and a “significant burden” on families and the fact the National Curriculum requirement means head teachers “have no choice other than to incur the additional expense to ensure compliance”.

The letter requested the councils consider subsidising travel costs for parents and schools, offer financial support for schools to cover the increased cost of swimming lessons with Everyone Active and establish community grants or funding programmes for families.

The town council also questioned HCC with regard to the failure to secure emergency funding for the pool.

Town clerk Chris Hunt told the Indie on Friday the county had responded to the letter stating the application for exceptional circumstances funding “fell outside the scope of the relevant policy”.

It also stressed that schools would need to “continue to liaise with swimming providers and EHDC to ensure swimming is provided at a primary age”.

The town council has yet to receive a response from East Herts Council.

Sawbridgeworth Conservatives group blamed Hertford and Stortford Labour MP Josh Dean for “misleading our community” and criticised East Herts Council over a “shocking dereliction of duty”.

A statement from the group said: "Our Labour MP took photos with the Labour minister encouraging Hertfordshire County Council to push a funding application to the Department for Education that seemingly fell outside the policy scope—misleading our community and giving false hope when it was never going to be accepted.

“Their misjudgement has led to a period of unnecessary uncertainty, and since then, our MP has remained completely silent, offering no help in resolving ongoing issues with school access to swimming.

“Meanwhile, the Green-Lib-Dem East Herts Council has also failed to step up, making no provision to support local schools in moving to Grange Paddocks, leaving children and residents with high costs and needless travel - a shocking dereliction of duty.”