E&I is considering a deeper pool below diving board

A DEEPER pool area below the diving platform at the Ladies’ Pool and improving its water retention are two of the options being considered by the Environment & Infrastructure Committee and a working group set up to look at the platform’s future.

A group of volunteers have this week helped to clean up La Vallette bathing pools after they had been drained of water at low tide, including checking the condition of the walls and to move a build up of silt and rocks. (Picture by Peter Frankland, 34058093)

Earlier this week a group of volunteers removed some of the stones from the pool and this work is going on against a background of ‘constructive discussions’, said E&I.

The working group comprises four people who are regular users of the pools and they are exploring various options for the platform’s future with the committee.

‘We’re pleased with the positive discussions we’ve had so far and grateful for the high-quality input from the various members of the group,’ said E&I president and working group member Lindsay de Sausmarez.

‘There is still more work to do before we can propose the next steps, but we feel positive progress is being made. We also appreciate the very generous offers of practical help from members of the community, which help to make this potential solution more achievable and affordable.’

She added that this sort of collective effort showed ‘Guernsey at its best’.

In addition to making the water deeper, other safety measures are being looked into.

E&I said that people had offered to carry out some elements of this work, which could speed up progress and reduce the cost to the taxpayer.

But for now the platform will stay closed and the committee said more robust barriers will be installed today, which are better able to stand up to bad weather and the tides. The platform is also due to be repaired following storm damage.

E&I is still putting together a funding proposal to take to the Policy & Resources Committee to pay for repairs.

‘If that is successful, as well as helping to hopefully secure the future of the diving platform, the Ladies’ Pool can be brought up to an even better standard,’ Deputy de Sausmarez said.

A previous bid was unsuccessful.

Sea swimmer Adrian Sarchet, who was behind a public demonstration to save the diving platform and is also on the working group, said it was important that people complied with the warning signs not to use it for the time being while the work went on to secure its future.