Hurdles to conquer over community pool

RESIDENTS will face either higher taxation or the postponement of current capital projects if the Policy Committee finally agrees to contribute towards building a community pool.

The Alderney Community and Sports Centre Trust submitted a revised, more detailed feasibility study on plans to build a new pool and gym at St Anne's School to the Finance Committee.

Recently it endorsed the study and the trust is now asking the Policy Committee to give outline agreement to contribute £400,000 towards building costs.

If it does, the trust then faces a series of 10 'hurdles' before the States contractually agrees to allocate money from its capital fund to the project, which will probably take around a year.

Those hurdles range from securing other sources of funding to putting work out to tender with contractors. For starters, they must get confirmation of Guernsey's Education Department's contribution and make a case to Health and Social Services for funding.

Funds must then also be spent on engaging structural and heating engineers.

Once all steps are completed, further serious decisions must be made.

'If they receive outline approval, when the ACSCT completes the journey they have set out, then they will come back for financial and contractual approval,' said Robert McDowall, chairman of the Financial Advisory Group, pictured above.

'In the absence of £400,000 stemming from the sale of Fort Tourgis, the States would then be faced with the dilemma of increasing taxation or reprioritising other capital projects. I would envisage some sort of mini referendum of the taxpayers.'

The new feasibility study submitted to the Finance Committee itemises the running costs of the centre. Annual expenditure, calculated at £58,200, would, they claim, be met by a £3 admission cost per adult (£2 for children) plus grants from Guernsey.

Staffing costs are budgeted for one full-time centre manager with a salary of £24,000, plus other employment costs of £4,000. All other staff will be volunteers.

Currently, 10,000 admissions would generate £27,000. They are asking the States of Alderney to match the £12,500 the Education Department has undertaken to pay. They estimate that within three years, they will be self-sufficient.

Trustee Kerry Wedd said that once the States had pledged support for the pool they would then be in a position to negotiate with HSSD to donate towards running costs. 'We are over the first hurdle. If we get the same sort of approval from the Policy Committee as we did from the Finance Committee, then we can make a start.

'A total of 941 people in our survey said it was something they wanted and that building a swimming pool would be a sensible way of spending their money.'