The team behind the outdoor Greenbank Pool in Street have asked the parish council for a grant of up to £75,000 to help the charitable facility be financially sustainable next year.

The pool's development officer Sarah Todd gave a presentation to the Street Parish Council meeting on Tuesday (November 17) in which she made the case for the grant.

She said the money would not make up all of the shortfall that will be caused by a lower number of visitors as a result of government restrictions that are expected to still be in place, but highlighted the importance to Street of keeping the pool open.

The council agreed to get more information and discuss any possible grant at their Policy and Finance Committee meeting in February.

Sarah said: "2020 has been a tough year for Greenbank Pool.

"We made the difficult decision to close in June and this left us with a large loss in revenue. This January we made a massive investment to upgrade the pool's infrastructure, spending £147,000 on new boilers, £10,000 on new more environmentally friendly waste bins, £20,000 on a new water supply connection and improvements to the showers and toilets.

"When the sun shines in the summer, as it did in 2018, then Greenbank Pool has 75,000 visitors and makes a financial surplus.

"Greenbank Pool is a non-profit making charity so all the additional money made is reinvested in the pool.

"However, when the weather is not so good, for instance in 2019, when we only had 60,000 visitors, then we make a loss.

"In 2021 with the current government guidelines and social distancing restrictions, we estimate visitors will only be able to total 29,000 so there will be a significant financial loss.

"Therefore we have asked for a significant grant from the parish council to help keep the pool open for the 2021 season.

"Our prices have to rise and we realise that season tickets will be difficult to manage if we have to keep restrictions in place in 2021.

"We know that our customers have missed us and we long to open so we need to share ideas on how to make this happen."

If you would like to share your views regarding the reopening of Greenbank Pool in 2021 then you can email us [email protected].