SEVILLE residents are being asked to band together to fight for their local swimming pool.
The town’s chamber of commerce is holding a meeting tomorrow night (Wednesday), at 7.30pm at the Seville Public Hall, to launch a Save the Seville Pool campaign.
Robert Pace, Seville Chamber of Commerce secretary, said the campaign was triggered by fears that the pool had been earmarked for closure.
However, James Martin, the shire’s manager of community relations, denied the council was looking at closing the pool.“There are concerns in the local community that the Shire of Yarra Ranges is looking at closing the pool and we have decided to be proactive and make sure it doesn’t happen,” he said.
“The community owns the pool and it’s up to us to protect it and make sure it has a future.”
Mr Pace said the pool, which was built using volunteer labour in 1956, was an important and cherished part of the town.
“At the meeting we want to assess the level of support there is for saving and upgrading the pool,” he said.
Mr Pace said the chamber had sent out letters to householders in the area inviting them to the public meeting.
The shire had neglected the pool in recent years, he said, in favour of recreational facilities in other towns.
“The shire has spent a lot of dollars on Yarra Junction’s new pool, well, what about our town now?” he said.
“Our pool desperately needs upgrading and we want money spent on it.”
“The Seville pool is not being closed,” he said.
“In the coming weeks there will be some maintenance works taking place as part of the normal reconditioning of the shire’s outdoor pools.”
Mr Martin said the pool would be open for the summer season, from December through to March.
Mr Pace said a community celebration day would be held to mark the 50th anniversary of the pool on December 1.
