Swimming availability at the popular Victoria Park pool in Buckfasleigh have been extended.
It will open on May 5 and not close again until the end of September. A new arrangement, with Teignbridge Council training volunteer lifeguards free of charge, should also help ensure that the pool does not have to remain closed at times through lack of available staff, as has happened in the past.
A new group, the Friends of Buckfastleigh Pool, has been formed in a bid to safeguard the future of the facility. Teignbridge Council's leisure officer, Barry Gedden, broke the news at a meeting of the town council.
He said the free lifeguard training would be to nationally-approved standards and would look good on the CVs of those seeking work in the leisure industry.
In return for the qualification, they would need to be available for 30 hours of duty in the summer. Mr Gedden confirmed that the day-to-day running of the pool and issues such as maintenance would remain Teignbridge's responsibility and that any increased running costs would be largely offset by the introduction of the volunteers.
He said any rise in the cost of a swim this year should be kept to around five per cent. Buckfastleigh mayor, Cllr Donald Joint, welcomed the developments and said that closures in the past had been 'a bone of contention'.
He pledged his council's support for the new Friends group and rejected criticisms he had heard around town which suggested the council had been against the pool's success. 'Not in any way,' he said.
Despite some concerns among councillors that fundraising might prove difficult there was general support for the new regime, the feeling around the table being summed up by Cllr Pat Hedges when she said: 'If this can work it's the best idea.'
A further meeting between Teignbridge and the Friends is scheduled for next Wednesday.