Fate of Leventhorpe swimming pool in Sawbridgeworth lies in hands of Government as closure deadline looms

The fate of Sawbridgeworth’s swimming pool hangs in the balance as campaigners await a decision on funding and the deadline for its closure looms ever closer.

The pool and gym at Leventhorpe School in Cambridge Road is due to be closed from Monday (Dec 23), but campaigners are hoping an emergency grant from the Government could give it a last-minute reprieve.

Withdrawal of a Government grant means the secondary school – which owns the much-loved facility, used by residents and pupils from the town’s schools for swimming lessons – can no longer afford to keep it open.

But following a meeting between Hertford and Stortford Labour MP Josh Dean and early education minister Stephen Morgan at the Department for Education (DfE), a 12-month lifeline enabling education authority Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) to apply for “exceptional circumstances” funding was identified.

HCC this week confirmed it had submitted an application, but local councillors and residents are concerned it will not be processed in time to prevent closure.

On Tuesday afternoon a spokesperson for the DfE told the Indie: “An exceptional circumstances funding request has been submitted to the department and this is under assessment. We expect a decision to be taken on the application imminently.”

Cllr Eric Buckmaster, the HCC member for Sawbridgeworth, told the Indie on Monday that he and fellow East Herts Council (EHC) and town council member Angus Parsad-Wyatt would be meeting EHC’s executive member for wellbeing, Cllr Sarah Hopewell, and council officers later this week.

He said: “We shall be setting out our expectation that, even in the knowledge that the service provider [Everyone Active] is already deploying staff elsewhere, if the funding application from county is successful then both East Herts and Everyone Active be as supportive as possible in enabling the pool to reopen with the agreement of the school.

“In tandem with that, Angus has also been leading on finding an alternative swimming operator for daytime and evening.”

Cllr Buckmaster added: “It is early days and the business model needs to be right, without any risk to the school’s core funding, which can only be spent on education.

“Along with the community, everyone is working hard to turn this around and find a solution that keeps swimming in Sawbridgeworth.”

Leventhorpe head teacher Malcolm White said: “As things stand, we are still planning to close as we haven’t heard anything from the DfE. We have tried to understand how long they will take to make a decision, but we haven’t got any answers.

“This means we will close as scheduled on December 23. If anything changes before or after the closure date, we will have to look at the possible options at that stage, depending on the outcome from the DfE.”

Mr Dean said he was pleased the application for funding had been submitted, adding: “I’m hopeful for a positive outcome so that we can then take forward a conversation about a sustainable long-term solution for our pool as a community.”