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DISMAY: Residents’Association chairman Terry

Cope, and inset, ourstory on the plannedclosure in 2008.

www.thisisthesentinel.co.uk 32pMonday, February 25, 2008

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City Final

ONLINE TODAYYummy mummies

See Pages 16&17 orvote on your favourite

mum by going to www.thisisthesentinel.co.uk/yummymummy

Can of beerstops robberyA QUICK-thinking customerstopped a robbery by aknifeman by throwing a canof beer at him.

The woman hurled themakeshift missile secondsafter the robber had burstinto the Bargain Booze store,in Chesterton,

It hit the masked thug onthe side of the head andforced him to flee from theshop empty-handed.

Police praised the womanfor remaining calm in suchterrifying circumstances.

The attack happened ataround 9.10pm on Friday inBeasley Place.

Anyone with informationshould call Newcastle CID on01785 234901 orCrimestoppers on 0800555111.

‘WONDDER STRIKE? IT WASN’T BAAD’ PAGEES466&477

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POPULAR POOLFACES THE AXE

Leisure facilities to be scrapped to fund council cutbacks

BY JESSICA WILLIAMSAND LAURA NAYLORjessica.williams@thesentinel.co.uk

SWIMMING facilities at a council-runleisure centre are under threat afterplans were revealed to save £60,000.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council is con-sidering closing the splash pool atDimensions Leisure Centre,Burslem, as part of cutbacks overthe next three years.

The closure would form part ofan overall plan to save up to£200,000 by restructuring council-run leisure centres across thecity.

Councillor Mohammed Per-vez, pictured, the council’s

portfolio holder for community ser-vices, said: “One thing that needs to bestressed is that we are consideringclosing the splash pool, not the wholeof the Dimensions Leisure Centre.

“We have been losing money withthe splash pool, and it is in need ofrefurbishment which would requiresignificant investment.

“There are many similar facilitiesnearby such as in Tunstall and atFenton Manor.”

The full council is due to vote onthe closure at a meeting on

Thursday.A report says £44,000 couldbe saved from the direct

running costs of thesplash pool – complete

with slides, rapids and water jets – anda further £16,000 if the council scrapsplans for a refurbishment due nextyear. It says the closure of the splashpool would be followed by a review ofother leisure services.

It adds: “This will determinewhether more significant savings canbe made. The potential outcome willbe the closure of further facilities orprivate sector partnership.”

Staff at Dimensions said 600 peoplehad already signed a petition to keepthe pool.

Burslem councillor Joy Garner,deputy leader of the city council’sLabour Group, said: “Maybe weshould be looking at reviewing pricesand better advertising, rather than

shutting what is a very valued servicedown.”

Councillor Peter Kent-Baguley,leader of the Potteries Alliance Group,said: “You either believe in the policyof marketing everything and seeingthe prices go up, or in the good oldethos of public services being run forthe people at prices they can afford. Isubscribe to the latter.”

Hayley Bath, of Tunstall, has twodaughters, aged two and four who usethe pool. The 40-year-old said: “Thereis nowhere else that offers the same, atan affordable price.”

What do you think of plans to closethe splash pool? Email us at letters@thesentinel.co.uk

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£1m PLANSTO SPLASHPOOL CASH

New swimming complex willbe built at Dimensions site

L ANDLORDSET DOG ONLATE NIGHT

DRINKERSEE PAGE 7

BY ALEX CAMPBELLalex.campbell@thesentinel.co.uk

MORE than£500,000 is set tobe invested in newswimming facilit-ies at a council-run leisure com-plex – just threeyears after thec e n t re ’s pool wasthreatened withcl o s u re.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council willprovide the cash if it can findprivate funding or grants to take thetotal investment at Dimensions to atleast £1 million.

It comes three years after plans toclose the splash pool at the Burslemcentre were scrapped.

That sparked a political stormwhich led to the arrest of two seniorpoliticians and a leading business-man.

Council officials today said it wastoo early to say whether the poolwould entirely replace existingfacilities, although the authority’saspiration is for a ‘new swim-ming pool’ at Dimensions.

Assistant director of neigh-bourhood engagement JudithKirk told councillors: “We haveto make sure the facilities arefit for the future and this pro-posal reflects that.”

The proposedinvestment atDimensions fol-

lows the closure of swimming poolsin Tunstall and Shelton as part of£35.6 million cuts in 2011/12.

A host of cuts to swimming ser-vices are also planned for 2012/13,including forcing schools to payextra for swimming lessons andending the subsidy paid to the Cityof Stoke-on-Trent Swimming Club.

Terry Cope, chairman of Green-fields Residents’ Association, inTunstall, said: “The people of Tun-stall have been misled.

“This £500,000 would have keptboth Tunstall and Shelton poolsgoing and they were two pools thatwere very necessary for their com-m u n i t i e s. ”

Councillor Dave Conway, leader ofthe opposition City Independents,who campaigned to save the splashpool, said: “I’m not against invest-ment, but was this at the cost of

Tunstall and Shelton?”The Dimensions invest-

ment is planned over thenext three years.

It also involves an over-haul of gym facilities.

It comes months after the councilspent £44,000 resolving a long-run-ning legal dispute with WaterWorldowner Mo Chaudry. Mr Chaudry –who was arrested and later releasedwithout charge – was paid about£22,000 by the council.

The entrepreneur threatened tosue the council after claiming theauthority broke a secret deal to shutthe splash pool and pay him£100,000-per-year to offer a discountat his Festival Park attraction.

Mr Chaudry said he could onlysupport the new plans if it meansthe splash pool being replaced andasked the council to look again atpartnerships with private swim-ming facilities.

He added: “It makes no economicsense to me for the council to buildanother pool and keep an existing,heavily-subsidised facility open.

“It would be a ludicrous decisionto have two pools open at the samelocation when the complex isalready being subsidised.

“The only real option is to recon-figure the existing splash pool to anormal swimming pool.

“Anything other than this wouldbe mindless and uneconomic.”

What do you think of the plans?Email us at letters@thesentinel.co.uk

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Page 24

DR AMATICPICTURES:SEE PAGE 2‘CCTV FILMED ME BEING SHOT’

Top officer isinvestigatedTHE assistant chief constableof Staffordshire Police is oneof four top officers underinvestigation over allegationsof misconduct.

Formal notices ofinvestigation have beenserved on the senior officers,including assistant chiefconstable Jane Sawyers. Theallegations relate to a murderinvestigation by StaffordshirePolice into the shooting of aWolverhampton drug dealer.

The investigation, managedby the Independent PoliceComplaints Commission,concerns allegations thatevidence was withheld.

The other formerStaffordshire officers underinvestigation are Adrian Lee,chief constable ofNorthamptonshire, SuzetteDavenport, deputy chiefconstable of Northamptonshireand Marcus Beale, assistantchief constable with the WestMidlands force.

A spokesman forStaffordshire Police said theissuing of notices ofinvestigation into an officer’sconduct is not meant to implyany wrongdoing.

He added: “Such notices arenot judgmental and we need tolet the ongoing investigationestablish the facts. As a result,the Police Authority has takenthe decision not to suspend theof ficer.”

QUESTIONS:AssistantchiefconstableJaneSawyers.

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