PROTEST group Bridgwater Forward is continuing to campaign for a town centre swimming pool – in light of Government confirmation that Chilton Trinity Technology College will be rebuilt.

The future of a new swimming pool and leisure centre on the secondary school's site hung in the balance after Education Secretary Michael Gove scrapped the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme.

Sedgemoor District Council closed Sedgemoor Splash in late August last year and demolished it to make way for the Chilton Trinity public facility, as part of BSF rebuild plans.

On hearing Mr Gove's announcement that Chilton Trinity's project will go-ahead, Forward has reiterated the proposed pool is "completely in the wrong place". The group believes Sedgemoor should abandon its plans and in true democratic style let the people decide where the pool should go.

Glen Burrows, Forward secretary, said: "For a year, we have been fighting hard to persuade the council to do the right thing, admit its mistake, and rebuild a town centre pool as part of the Northgate development.

"Not only would this be far more accessible and sustainable, but it would massively boost town centre regeneration.

"When the Government put the Chilton Trinity BSF project on hold, it seemed the out-of-town pool project was dead.

"Now it has been revived, Forward is still not impressed with the plan – nothing has changed – the council has never properly consulted the people as to where the pool should go."

The group predicts, with the panic over, the council will continue to say Chilton is the only, and therefore the best, site.

However, the group is claiming that:

Sedgemoor originally agreed to replace Splash as the centre piece of the Northgate development following extensive public consultation and advice from its own consultants;

Sedgemoor stands to gain from the sale of another massive land asset, the old Bath Road Cattle Market site.

Tesco and French nuclear energy company EDF expressed an interest in funding a pool as part of successful planning negotiations – while both may receive a frosty welcome from some quarters, Sedgemoor have, so far, turned their backs on exploring these possibilities.