Page 1118 - Reading Mercury

long term structure of training to make it more effective, efficient and value for
money. The results of the study are expected by the middle of next year.

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Thur 3 Aug
TOWN MAYOR WILL LEAD DELEGATION
Wokingham town councillors have overwhelmingly backed a recommendation to
seek urgent talks on saving Martin’s Pool. Mayor Fred Clark will lead a four man
delegation to meet opposite numbers on Wokingham District Council in a last ditch
effort to save the doomed outdoor pool.
The decision follows an emergency session of the finance and general purposes
committee which paved the way for the pool’s future to be debated at last week’s full
town council meeting. Otherwise it would not have been raised before September.
Cllr. Jack Green summed up the mood of the meeting when he said, ”If 5,000
people want to retain the pool, that is good enough for me,” He was referring to a
“save our pool” petition sparked off by massive opposition to district council plans to
sell the £2 million pool site for development to raise money towards building an
indoor pool on the Carnival Field.
The delegation will consist of the Mayor, Deputy Mayor Bob Wyatt, Town Clerk
Michael Taylor and Cllr. Peter Edwards, vice-chairman of the amenities committee.

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Thur 19 Oct
TOWN HALL
The horse trough outside the town hall is to be moved. The prison cells may be used
to store files.

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Thur 26 Oct
TOWN COUNCIL REJECTS NEW INDOOR POOL
Wokingham town councillors have condemned plans to turn Martin’s Pool over to
the bulldozers. And a major development company has joined in the attack, accusing
Wokingham District Council of ’town cramming’ in its determination to replace the
historic pool with 18 houses.
At a meeting of the town council’s planning committee, members supported a
proposal which would keep the outdoor pool site for recreation. The councillors were
meeting to discuss their response to the South East Area Local Plan. Following a
heated debate on plans to build a cut-price indoor pool on the Carnival Field, they
rejected the plan on the casting vote of chairman Ray Eke after the vote was tied, five
apiece.
Having seen the plans for the new pool, Cllr. Eke said he could not support them.
He said that the council should be aiming to provide an Olympic standard pool. But
Cllr. Jim Stott supported the indoor pool, questioning the depth of support within the
town for Martin’s Pool. Cllr. Marion Robertson said she was struck by the “tatty2
appearance of Martin’s.
Cllr. Jack Green could not envisage how the new pool could make a profit. He said
”If Martin’s Pool in the hottest summer since 1976, is running at a loss how can we
expect to fund and make a profit on the new pool?”
ARC Properties, who are seeking to build a new pool as part of their mini-town
proposals for Evendons Farm, have criticised the district council.

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