Vale of White Horse District Council has confirmed that it will immediately begin working towards securing the long-term future of Abingdon’s Abbey Meadow Outdoor Pool, alongside plans to improve the wider riverside area. Earlier this year the district council unveiled a new vision for the popular Abbey Meadow area which is located on the banks of the River Thames in Abingdon. The plans set out how more than £600,000 would provide new play areas, changing facilities, picnic benches and a multi-use games area for use throughout the year. Since then the council has been working to refine the plans, moving on from what were just artist’s impressions towards a fully costed scheme to be implemented from autumn of this year. Throughout the process the long-term future of the outdoor pool has always been guaranteed, and services at the pool have improved as part of the council’s new leisure contract with GLL. The council has always been clear that should the physical condition of the pool require further attention this would be dealt with. With the temporary closure of the indoor pool at the Abingdon’s White Horse Leisure and Tennis Centre the number of people experiencing the outdoor pool has rocketed, with many more families enjoying this wonderful facility. Last week council staff identified some maintenance issues at the pool which will require extensive work to fix after the current season has ended. In assessing the problem they concluded that it will be more cost effective to replace the ageing pool completely rather than persist with periodic repairs. A short term repair has been carried out to ensure the pool can remain open as planned until mid- September before any long-term work can begin. Cllr Matthew Barber, Leader of Vale of White Horse District Council, said: “The plans for the wider Abbey Meadow area are an exciting opportunity to make this area more attractive to visitors all year round. Many people in the Vale are very passionate about the outdoor pool and I have always promised that when the existing pool came to the end of its life we would find a long term solution. Good to our word, we have now reached that stage and will immediately begin working up plans to replace the existing pool.” Cllr Charlotte Dickson, Cabinet Member for Leisure at Vale of White Horse District Council, said: “This is a great opportunity to get the best of both worlds. We’ll continue to press ahead with our plans to improve the wider Abbey Meadow area and will now also free up extra funding to help us realise our ambition of securing the long-term future of the outdoor pool for the Vale community.” The Vale will continue to engage with the wider community and special interest groups on the detail of both the Abbey Meadow project and the new plans to replace the pool.