When times are hard, the first cuts you make have to be in what are regarded as non essential services. However, as I have said before, nobody wants to suffer cuts in any area that effects them.
A petition with 1,703 signatures has been passed to the council in Bigastro. The issue of concern now is the proposed privatisation of the heated swimming pool at the sports centre. On average, only 105 people pay to use the pool each month: If that number increased to between 200 and 250, then the pool would pay for itself but that is unlikely. Aurelio Murcia claims that the petition they have received is politically motivated, driven by the PSOE in an attempt to discredit the new council.
The facts speak for themselves, keeping the pool open is costing the council 2,500 Euros per month added to which there is still a debt of 700,000 Euros to be paid for its construction along with the cost of three years supply of water. It is also a fact that the previous socialist council closed the pool during the winter months and nobody complained.
The main cost of keeping the pool open in winter is for diesel used to heat the water which last year cost 9,000 Euros. However, some of that diesel was used to generate electricity following the supply cut by Iberdrola. Now that the electricity supply has been restored and the solar panels on the roof have been repaired, the cost may be a lot lower.
Interestingly, 80% of the users of the sports centre are from outside the town taking advantage of the subsidised cost of running the facility.
1 comment:
I didn't even know that there was a pool in Bigastro. Where is it, exactly?
Post a Comment