Bedford's Oasis Beach Pool will close for good - but mayor defends cash spent on major refurb just months earlier
Bedford’s mayor, Tom Wootton, has been asked if permanently closing Oasis after council cash was spent on major renovations was doing his best.
But the mayor said how Oasis was managed in the past has made him “quite angry” and “so sad that it’s run down”.
During the Executive Meeting (Wednesday, November 20) councillor Leigh Coombs (Lib Dem, Shortstown) said: “The report before us tonight recommends the permanent closure of the Oasis Beach Pool leisure facility.
“This is despite your administration recently spending £338,000 [sic] on renovations.
“At the time I questioned you about this expenditure and asked whether Oasis would remain open. And your response was that you would do your best to keep it open.
“My question is this: is permanently closing it after spending £338,000 your definition of doing your best?”
Back in May operators GLL – a charitable social enterprise which runs leisure and library services nationally under the ‘Better’ brand – announced that it had worked alongside the council to carry out major refurbishments with a new reception and shop, a party room, additional multi-use spaces, repairs to showers, lockers and a deep clean.
It said the council had invested £500k in the refurb, and held a pool party to celebrate the reopening of the pool which had been closed for six months while work went ahead.
Mayor Wootton said: “I think it is a wonderful resource for the borough, it’s just sad that it’s been run down over so many years now.
“We could go into this party political wise and ask how much maintenance has been spent over the years under the previous administrations.
“We could talk about their lack of preparation and all the rest of it, because there are parts of that building that have been very run down.
“It does make me quite angry. I’m just so sad that it’s run down and got to this state.”
Councillor Coombs said: “If the facility was in such a bad state when you took office, why did your administration spend £338,000 on renovations?
“You had time to assess its future and make better decisions. Blaming the past doesn’t excuse this.”
Mayor Wootton replied that the decision was taken because the site was so run down.
“You just have to look at the roof and the problems we’ve got with the roof to see how badly it has been maintained for a long time.
“So that decision to try and keep something going, trying to give our residents something to be proud of, something that we can look forward to, rather than always dourly cutting [costs] and the austerity that the previous administration seemed to go by.
“I stand by our decision,” he said.
The decision had also been challenged by MP Mohammad Yasin. He said: “This is a frustrating development for residents, who had only recently regained use of this facility following an extended period of closure.”
The Executive voted to approve the emerging Bedford Borough Sport and Leisure Strategy 2024-2034, and to subject the emerging strategy to wider consultation with sports clubs, groups and associations and the general public.
It also agreed to refurbish its various leisure sites, apart from the closure of existing Oasis facility, while maintaining the site for leisure facility use and “exploring commercial operator options”.