Councillors from Canbury Gardens, Tudor and Kingston Town wards have allocated £370,000 to neighbourhood infrastructure projects at a meeting this Tuesday, 27 February.

The committee approved a wide range of projects put forth by both community groups and the council itself.

Jeremy Scott-Maber of the riverside activity centre Albany Outdoors, received full-funding for a new outdoor pool.

Introducing his project as "96 cubic metres of water in a tank," Mr Scott-Maber went on to describe the numerous groups who could be introduced to the centre with the new facility. 

Estimating that only 25% of the pool's users would be current clients of Albany Outdoors, the manager summed up the project by saying: "it doesn't sound like a lot, but it's going to change the centre, the nature of what we do."

At £150,000, the pool was the most expensive project discussed during the evening.

Despite this, funding was granted unanimously. 

The new pool will provide a safer alternative to river-based activities, and will be especially helpful for disabled visitors (Photo: Oliver Monk)

Cllr Ian George was especially taken by Mr Scott-Maber's enthusiasm, commenting: "I can't see how we can't give approval for it. It just sounds perfect and will positively affect so many people."

"It's rare for me to be completely the opposite of Cllr George," replied Cllr Noel Hadjimichael. 

Referring to Mr Scott-Maber's research of potential pool users, the councillor described how "it wasn't the enthusiasm when I did my site visit: it was the evidence. It was the data. It was the three years of information, and detailed information."

The Albany Outdoors team reported that the project also had scope to be used for water awareness training after Cllr Patrick Hall raised concerns about increases in dangerous river usage by young people in recent years.

Mr Scott-Maber was very pleased with the outcome of the evening, telling Nub News: "It was such a joy to hear the comments from the committee."

While a number of councillors visited the centre regarding the project, Mr Scott-Maber described how the centre is "indebted to Councillor Manthel," who contributed much to the project during its initial stages.

There is a lot of work left to do before construction can begin, with the centre "now formally at the start line" according to its manager.

A best-case scenario could see construction starting around autumn.

Mr Scott-Maber wasn't the only applicant who saw success with the committee, with funding being granted for six other projects.

The only exception was the refurbishment of the public toilets along Queen's Promenade, which has been deferred to a later committee meeting.

The decision to fund rennovations of public toilets along Queen's Promenade has been deferred until a later meeting, with a date yet to be determined (Photo: Oliver Monk)

The decision was made after councillors raised concerns regarding the cost of the project given the lack of a total refit.

However there was a sense of optimism regarding the project, with chair Cllr Olly Wehring indicating the committee's general support for some form renovation.

Nub News plans to follow this story closely going forward.