In the cabinet meeting the Mayor said that he 'made no apology for being the last on the council to change his mind'. He had wanted the refurbishment to go ahead given the strongly held views of people in the public meetings during 2005/2006 where their was a strong demand not just for a two pool solution, but keeping the existing building.

The mistake in 2005 was not asking Capita to include the Louise House site in their considerations. Apparently the site was 'not available' at the time, but since then it has become available.

It is a real shame that 2 years have been wasted but wa can now look forward to the new pool, with construction/demolition beginning in 2009 and completion in the summer of 2010. We need to make sure these timescales do not slip.