A young girl nearly drowning when she got out of her depth, a man undressing in the shower in full view of boys in the changing room and adults changing in front of pupils are among a shock catalogue of reasons why county head teachers say Hereford’s LEA swimming pool should not be closed.
And the Journal can also reveal how a man pushed his way past a group of primary school children waiting to use the city’s Leisure Pool saying “Excuse me, paedophile coming through”.
The near-drowning and changing incident were said to have occurred at the Leisure Pool, while the man in the shower prompted a primary school to stop using the Ross-on-Wye pool in favour of the Hereford venue.
The ‘paedophile’ incident was reported to the staff at the Leisure Pool, and the head teacher of the school concerned wrote to all parents with children in the class involved.
But it is not among comments from head teachers included in a background paper before a meeting of Herefordshire Council’s cabinet on Thursday, July 31.
The paper recommends that the cabinet agrees the LEA Pool should remain closed and its future could be reviewed as a possible community facility – and that school swimming sessions should be held at the Leisure Pool from September.
Under the national curriculum all children are expected to be able to swim 25 metres by the time they leave primary school, and in the past, 38 schools have used the LEA Pool, which is next to St Martin’s Primary School in Hereford.
Now 19 of 20 teachers say the LEA Pool should be re-opened, a 261-signature petition supporting this has been sent to the cabinet, and a portfolio of letters entitled ‘Save the LEA Pool’ from pupils at St Mary’s Primary School, Credenhill, has been passed to the cabinet by Independent group leader Councillor Bob Matthews.
“The estimated capital requirements for the LEA Pool is £282,500 over two years compared with £32,500 for Hereford Leisure Pool”, says the background report.
