Could the candidates standing for election in next week's poll for the County Council let us know where they stand on the matter of the sea pool? I don't just mean 'oh yes, it should be saved' which is easy to say and much harder to do, but whether the prospective councillors feel it should be:-

--retained by Cornwall Council leisure services and run by them as a municipal facility

--transferred to local management and run by a charity, with ongoing financial support from Cornwall Council

--transferred to local management and good luck with it chaps, you're on your own

--transferred to Bude-Stratton Town Council

--or something else!

This is particularly relevant because the Councillor who we've lost, Nathan Bale, did a huge amount of work to ensure that the Pool stayed open for 2011. Together with Cllr Pearce, he was instrumental in getting the Friends of Bude Sea Pool off the ground and into action.

So what position do the candidates take? How hard are you going to fight or our pool, if elected...?

Rowena / FoBSP

My starting point is that the Sea Pool must stay open, and must be found a secure future. That is self-evident.

Your -- Rowena and the rest of FoBSP-- efforts and dedication are an inspiration. you are better placed to answer the question of 'how' to achieve its survival. However, if elected, I pledge to work with you and find ways forward.

One big unanswered – even asked – question with all these cutbacks is: what happens in four or five years time, if the deficit's reduced and things are looking up? Will money then return to public amenities like the Sea Pool? Or will casting it loose now mean it stays forever away from public funding?

If the former, then CC has to commit to this as a future option, and therefore in the meantime we're in a short-term survival plan. (This is assuming that CC is not prepared to fund beyond March next year.)

I've read your comments on 'A Lanson Boys' blog and you make many great points, not least of which the life-guard cost. I also get the impression you don't favour an independent operation running the pool in perpetuity.

The 30-50K p.a. needed is not really a lot of money. It's about 35 houses' annual council tax bill. In less lean times, it should be possible for CC to find this out of public funds.

Maybe CC could be persuaded to provide some money for now. Mixed with membership revenue (is there a database of regular visitors to Bude who could be asked to join? Could CC put a leaflet for free in whatever is their next mailing to residents to encourage them to join FoBSP?), plus a bit of sponsorship, the beach huts, etc, plus maybe a bit of cost-trimming, I'm sure a package could be pulled together that gets the pool through this austerity period, say for four to six years. People should be more willing to pull together for the short term.

I'm thinking aloud in my reply. Options need to be explored, and if elected, I will try my best to get whatever is possible from CC. But I have to be realistic about what can be achieved, and together we have to find a creative solution.

Closing it (and even demolishing it) is not the answer. Unless your name is Beeching.